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Biography
Toshinori Kondo (b. 近藤等則, 15 Dec 1948, in Ehime Prefecture, Japan), is an avant-garde jazz / jazz fusion trumpeter. He has lived in Japan, New York City & Amsterdam. In college he was a member of Funky Beaters & by 1976, a member of an ensemble which gained some notice in his native Japan. His early influences were Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie & Miles Davis. That said, his style is quite distinct from theirs and influenced by his religious studies, among other things. In the mid-1970s his career gained new momentum on moving to NYC, where he worked with members of the 'Downtown' scene, including Bill Laswell and John Zorn; his first solo album coming out in 1979. Later he returned to Japan and after that moved to the Netherlands where he lives today. He has kept a comparatively low profile in the Netherlands and has little to no connections to the Dutch jazz scene. In 2002 he worked on an international peace festival in Hiroshima after being approached by the Dalai Lama about organizing one. He has also done musical, and possibly acting, work for Japanese crime films.
He is currently known for Free jazz and electronica music. In these, or related, capacities he has worked with DJ Krush and Tom Cora. He is also known for being avant-garde and was a former member of Praxis.
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