Toshinori Kondo

Lore & Background

Toshinori Kondo was born in Ehime Prefecture and attended Kyoto University in 1967, where he became close friends with percussionist Tsuchitori Toshiyuki. In 1972 the pair left university; Toshiyuki went on to work with Peter Brook, while Kondo joined Yosuke Yamashita. In 1978 he moved to New York and began performing with Bill Laswell, John Zorn, Fred Frith, and Eraldo Bernocchi. A year later he released his first recording, toured Europe with Eugene Chadbourne, and collaborated with European musicians such as Peter Brötzmann. Returning to Japan, he worked with Ryuichi Sakamoto, Kazumi Watanabe, and Herbie Hancock. In the mid-1980s he began focusing on his own career, blending his avant-garde origins with electronic music. He founded the band Kondo IMA in 1984, which achieved commercial success. Around 1990 he moved to Amsterdam to work alone and launched 'Blow the Earth.' In the 1990s he was part of the collective Die Like a Dog, whose first album *Fragments Of Music, Life And Death of Albert Ayler* was released in 1994. In 2002, after being approached by the Dalai Lama about organizing an international peace festival, he worked on one in Hiroshima. He collaborated with Bill Laswell on several projects and appeared on the 2007 album *Inamorata*.

Reader's Guide

Toshinori Kondo's significance lies in his role as a bridge between Japanese avant-garde jazz and the international free improvisation and experimental music scenes. His early work in New York placed him alongside key figures like Bill Laswell and John Zorn, and his collaborations with European musicians such as Peter Brötzmann expanded the reach of his sound. Kondo's shift in the mid-1980s toward blending avant-garde jazz with electronic music marked a distinctive evolution, leading to the commercially successful band Kondo IMA. His later projects, including the Die Like a Dog quartet and the 'Blow the Earth' series, continued to explore the intersection of improvisation and electronics. His involvement in the Hiroshima peace festival, initiated by the Dalai Lama, reflects a broader engagement with social themes. Kondo's extensive discography as a leader and sideman documents a career of constant collaboration and stylistic exploration, leaving a legacy as a versatile and influential trumpeter in experimental music.

Did You Know?

• Kondo attended Kyoto University in 1967 and became close friends with percussionist Tsuchitori Toshiyuki.
• In 2002, he worked on an international peace festival in Hiroshima after being approached by the Dalai Lama.
• He founded the band Kondo IMA in 1984, which achieved commercial success.
• The film *Blow the Earth in Japan* is his first experience as a film director.

From Kyoto to the World Stage

Toshinori Kondo was born in Ehime Prefecture on 15 December 1948 and enrolled at Kyoto University in 1967, where he formed a close bond with percussionist Tsuchitori Toshiyuki. The two left university together in 1972 and went their separate professional ways—Toshiyuki went on to work with Peter Brook, while Kondo joined Yosuke Yamashita's ensemble. His recording career ignited in 1979, a remarkably dense year that produced multiple releases including Environment for Sextet alongside John Zorn, Andrea Centazzo, Eugene Chadbourne, Tom Cora, and Polly Bradfield, as well as sessions with Henry Kaiser, John Oswald, and Tristan Honsinger. In 1978 he had relocated to New York, where he performed with Bill Laswell, John Zorn, Fred Frith, and Eraldo Bernocchi. The following year he toured Europe with Chadbourne and collaborated with Peter Brötzmann. Returning to Japan, he played with Ryuichi Sakamoto, Kazumi Watanabe, and Herbie Hancock, establishing himself as a vital bridge between Japanese and international avant-garde scenes.

Free Jazz and the Die Like a Dog Collective

In the mid-1980s Kondo turned his attention toward his own artistic vision, weaving his avant-garde foundations together with electronic textures. This period yielded China Boogie (1985) and Kamikaze Blow (1989) with his band IMA. His deep devotion to free improvisation found one of its most powerful vehicles in the Die Like a Dog collective, a quartet pairing him with Peter Brötzmann, William Parker, and Hamid Drake. Their debut, Fragments of Music, Life and Death of Albert Ayler, appeared on FMP in 1994, followed by Little Birds Have Fast Hearts (1998/1999), Aoyama Crows (2002), and Close Up (2011). Kondo also appeared with Brötzmann in numerous other settings, including Alarm (1983), Berlin Djungle (1987), and the Globe Unity Orchestra's Intergalactic Blow (1983) and 20th Anniversary (1993). His sideman credits with Brötzmann stretch as far as Tonic 2000 (2020) and a Concert for Fukushima recorded in Wels in 2011, testifying to a decades-long creative dialogue between the two trumpeters.

Kondo IMA and the Blow the Earth Project

In 1984 Kondo founded the band Kondo IMA, which achieved notable commercial success within the Japanese music scene. Seeking creative solitude and a fresh environment, he relocated to Amsterdam in 1993 to launch the Blow the Earth project, a move that gave him space to explore beyond the boundaries of the Japanese jazz and fusion world. The project eventually returned to its home soil with Blow the Earth in Japan, a series that ran from the summer of 2007 through the autumn of 2011. This later incarnation also marked Kondo's first experience as a film director, with the resulting work carrying the same title. His work with IMA produced the 1989 album Kamikaze Blow on Alfa Records, and in 2020 he released Typhoon 19 with the successor group IMA21. The arc from commercial success in Japan to artistic isolation in Amsterdam and back again reflects a musician who consistently placed creative freedom above institutional comfort, using geography itself as a tool for reinvention.

Final Years and Enduring Legacy

Kondo passed away on 17 October 2020 in Kawasaki City at the age of 71. His final year of life was remarkably productive: he released Interstellar with Jason Wayne Sneed, Typhoon 19 with IMA21, and The Sea is Rough with Brom, all in 2020. His posthumous output continued with Renzoku Jump featuring Henry Kaiser, Greg Goodman, and John Oswald (2022), and Eternal Triangle with Massimo Pupillo and Tony Buck (2022). Earlier in his career, in 2002, he had been approached by the Dalai Lama to help organize an international peace festival in Hiroshima, a project that connected his musical work to broader humanitarian concerns. His sideman credits span an extraordinary range—from Herbie Hancock's Sound-System (1984) and Ryuichi Sakamoto's Ongaku Zukan (1984) to Robert Miles's Miles_Gurtu (2004), Jon Batiste and Chad Smith's The Process (2014), and Rone's Creatures (2014). A former member of Praxis, Kondo also collaborated with Bill Laswell on Inamorata (2007) and Life Space Death (2001), cementing his place at the intersection of jazz, electronic music, and global collaboration.