Search - Toshinori Kondo :: Fukyo

Breathtaking, near ambient solo electronic trumpet.

Michael Stack | North Chelmsford, MA USA | 03/30/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Toshinori Kondo is not a name that I was familiar with before picking us this recording, but the Tzadik website description sounded intriguing, and given that most Tzadik releases are of extraordinarily high quality, I thought I'd give "Fukyo" a try. One of the better ideas I've had certainly.



It's tough to evaluate Kondo in sort of atypical terms of a trumpet player, as he buries his sound below electronics-- there's at least some mild processing on the horn usually, and he uses echoes and loop pretty readily. Note this record is a solo trumpet performance, typically a loop is set up providing a rhythm track and Kondo solos on top of that. The results are startling. While its tough to hear his tone (though it sounds rather breathy, almost like Tom Harrell can get), his technique is superb-- he's clearly exhausting a range of sounds out of his horn, from scratch sounds to clear tones, I can't fault his technique at all.



Perhaps more interesting is that for what it says it is, a solo electronic trumpet record, its really quite engaging. Without a rhythm section, its quite easy to meander, to make this into a shriek-fest, or to cause a loss of interest, but with a relative lack of notes (Kondo appears very patient in his playing and lets ideas come to him-- one of my complaints often with horn players typically considered in the avant-garde is that many rush phrases/notes out far too fast), this album is almost ambient in its quality and full of breathtaking moments and beautiful songs.



This is a record worth taking a chance on, maybe not if you're looking for firey playing, but if you enjoy atmospheric and ambient performance, its superb. I know I was pleasantly surprised with how good this one was."