Toshinori Kondo

A sonically bold Japanese trumpeter, Toshinori Kondo was a creative maverick whose conceptual music straddled avant-garde jazz, electro-industrial rock, and ambient improvisation. Kondo first emerged as a key exponent of the experimental downtown New York scene of the late 1970s, playing with artists like Eugene Chadbourne, John Zorn, William Parker, Fred Frith, and Bill Laswell. He gained notoriety in the ’80s leading his IMA group and releasing ambitious albums like 1984’s Taihen, 1986′s Konton, and 1989′s Kamikaze Blow, which found him blending metallic funk, jazz, DJ turntablism, and industrial grooves. Along with regularly returning to Japan to work with artists like Ryiuchi Sakamoto, he also spent much of his life living in Amsterdam, where he was a member of saxophonist Peter Brötzmann’s Die Like a Dog ensemble and collaborated with equally boundary-pushing artists like guitarist Derek Bailey and drummer Han Bennink. Although he continued to skirt convention, prior to his passing in 2020 his style softened as he explored more ambient, spiritual, and ecologically minded sounds, a direction reflected in records like 2002′s Life Space Death with Laswell, 2014′s solo electric trumpet album Deeply Dreamed, and 2020′s Born of the Blue Planet.
Kondo was born in 1948 in the city of Imabari on the island of Shikoku, part of Ehime Prefecture, where his father worked as a shipbuilder. He first started playing trumpet at age 12 in the school band, and later studied engineering at Kyoto University. It was there that he befriended percussionist Tsuchitori Toshiyuki and began pursuing his interest in jazz. Initially influenced by artists like Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, and Dizzy Gillespie, he played in a hard bop style group called the Funky Beaters. However, he soon discovered avant-garde jazz, especially the work of Ornette Coleman, and by 1976 had joined free-jazz pianist Yosuke Yamashita’s ensemble. Other formative experiences included working with guitarist Derek Bailey, saxophonist Steve Lacy, and Milford Graves, among others.
In 1978, he moved to New York City, following the lead of other Japanese ex-patriots, including Sadao Watanabe and Terumasa Hino. He quickly ensconced himself in the vibrant downtown scene of the Lower East Side, playing with artists like John Zorn, Eugene Chadbourne, Henry Kaiser, and others. It was during this period that he made his recorded debut with 1978′s Moose and Salmon, featuring his trio with guitarist Kaiser and saxophonist John Oswald. There were also recording sessions with Chadbourne, Andrea Centazzo, and others.
As a leader, Kondo debuted in 1982 with Death Is Our Eternal Friend, an abstract live album recorded at Osaka Simanouci Church with percussionists Paul Lovens and Paul Lytton. He followed a year later with What Are You Talking About?, which found him mixing traditional jazz with free improvisation alongside Italian vocalist Tiziana Simona. It was around the same time that he met Herbie Hancock via his work with Laswell, and ended up contributing vocals to a track on the keyboardist’s landmark 1983 electronic album Future Shock.
In the early 1980s, Kondo moved back to Japan, where he formed his noise rock and electro-funk ensemble International Music Activities or IMA. Combining his heavily effects-laden trumpet with keyboards, electric guitars, funk bass lines, and sundry analog and electronic percussion instruments, Kondo released a string of well-received albums that significantly elevated his profile in Japan and Europe, garnering him attention across jazz and pop idioms. The first of his IMA albums, Taihen, arrived in 1984 and featured contributions by Laswell. Kondo followed with equally cross-pollinated efforts, including 1985′s Metal Position, 1986′s Konton, and 1989′s Kamikaze Blow. He continued to expand his sound with IMA in the early ’90s, releasing albums like 1990’s Tokyo Rose, 1991′s Brain War, and 1993′s Red City Smoke. These records found him further embracing a dance-oriented pop/rock style, along with heavy metal sounds and synth-funk, drawing upon the work of artists like Miles Davis, David Bowie, Don Cherry, and Prince.
It was also in the early ’90s that Kondo relocated to Amsterdam, where he would stay for the remainder of his career, returning often to Japan. He joined saxophonist Peter Brötzmann’s explosive free-improvisation outfit Die Like a Dog, appearing alongside bassist William Parker and drummer Hamid Drake on 1993′s Fragments of Music, Life & Death of Albert Ayler. He would continue to work with ensemble over the next two decades, contributing to albums like 1998′s Little Birds Have Fast Hearts, No. 1 and 2002′s Aoyama Crows.
On his own, Kondo began shifting away from his work with IMA, focusing on more ambient, meditative projects. He launched Blow the Earth, a series of environmental performances recorded at such places as the Negev Desert in Israel, Machu Picchu in Peru, the Himalayas, and Japan. In 1996, he released This, That and the Other with cellist Tristan Honsinger. Life Space Death arrived in 2002 and found Kondo again collaborating with Bill Laswell, crafting soundscapes around spoken-word fragments by the Dalai Lama. The album was released in correlation with an international peace festival the trumpeter helped organize on the Dalai Lama’s behalf in Hiroshima.
Kondo returned to electronic funk with 2003′s Nerve Tripper, working on several tracks with DJ Sahib. In 2005, he released Fukyo, a series of solo trumpet pieces on John Zorn’s Tzadik label. More equally ambient and avant-garde albums followed, including 2007′s Silent Melodies and 2014′s Deeply Dreamed. The trumpeter continued his live work as well, even tackling jazz standards in his own minimalist way utilizing drone tones and ambient effects. He also launched his own TKRecordings, releasing a bevy of albums online. Kondo died on October 17, 2020, in Kawasaki, Japan. He was 71 years old. ~ Matt Collar