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Otomo Yoshihide's New Jazz Orchestra

[b]Otomo Yoshihide's New Jazz Orchestra[/b] ([b]ONJO[/b]) was a Japanese experimental/free jazz/electroacoustic improv ensemble led by composer, sound producer, turntablist and guitarist [a=Otomo Yoshihide] as an extension of his [b][url=https://discogs.com/artist/167872]New Jazz Quintet[/url][/b] and [b][url=https://discogs.com/artist/145225]Ensemble[/url][/b]. The New Jazz Orchestra was born in January 2005, giving its debut live concerts at Shinjuku's [l=Pit Inn] and recording the first two albums "back-to-back," just two days apart, at [l=GOK Sound] studio in Tokyo. The [i][r=537029][/i] CD featured Yoshihide's favorite "standards," such as [a=Jim O'Rourke]'s "Eureka" and a few compositions by [a=Ornette Coleman] and [a=Charles Mingus], as well as his original music, including three songs by [a=Kahimi Karie] and [a=Mariko Hamada]. The [i][r=1253019][/i] CD entirely covered [a=Eric Dolphy]'s eponymous [url=https://discogs.com/master/64167]'64 masterpiece[/url], with [a=Akira Sasaki]'s design even replicating the iconic [l=Blue Note] sleeve by [a490780]. Both albums came out in Japan the same year, released by [l=Doubtmusic]. ONJO toured extensively in 2006, from January to March and later in Fall, with concerts in Japan, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, France and Croatia. Otomo invited various guests to perform at some shows, including a large string section. The tour was documented on two 2xCD sets, [i][r=1424241][/i] and [i][url=https://discogs.com/release/1424530]Vol. 2 Parallel Circuit[/url][/i], released by [l=Doubtmusic] in the summer of 2007. In September 2022, Belgian label [l190071] re-issued ONJO's [i][r=23992787][/i] on 2xLP, marking the Orchestra's first and only release on vinyl. [b]Original members[/b] (2004–2005) Otomo Yoshihide — guitar, turntable, conductor Axel Dörner — trumpet, slide trumpet Taisei Aoki — trombone, bamboo flute Kenta Tsugami — alto & soprano saxophones Masahiko Okura — alto saxophone, tubes Alfred Harth — tenor saxophone, bass clarinet, trumpet Mats Gustafsson — baritone saxophone Ko Ishikawa — sho Sachiko M — sinewaves, contact mic [i]Toshimaru Nakamura[/i]܍ — no-input mixing board Taku Unami — computer Kumiko Takara — vibraphone Cor Fuhler — piano, inside piano Hiroaki Mizutani — contrabass Yasuhiro Yoshigaki — drums, percussion, trumpet ܍ appears only on [i]Out to Lunch[/i] [b]ONJO 2006 Live tour[/b] Otomo Yoshihide — guitar, conductor Kahimi Karie — vocals Taisei Aoki — trombone Kenta Tsugami — alto & soprano saxophones Masahiko Okura — alto saxophone, bass clarinet, tubes Alfred Harth — tenor saxophone, bass clarinet Ko Ishikawa — sho Sachiko M — sinewaves Taku Unami — computer with objects Kumiko Takara — vibraphone Hiroaki Mizutani — bass Yasuhiro Yoshigaki — drums, trumpet Yoshiaki Kondo — live sound engineering [b]Guest/live members[/b] [a=Margareth Kammerer], [a=Kayoko Ishu] — vocals [url=https://discogs.com/artist/553267]Jo Foster[/url], [a=Hong Chulki], [a=Choi Joonyong], [a=Jin Sangtae], [a=Ryu Hankil] — electronics [a=Taku Hannoda], [a=Teruyuki Oshima], [a=Sato Yukie] — guitar [a=Yoshimitsu Ichiraku], [a=Keijun Kodama] — percussion [a=Tomohiro Higashikinjo], [a=Yosuke Toyoda], [a=Miho Watanabe] — alto saxophone [a=Yoichi Yoshida] — tenor saxophone [a=Junichi Ishizuka], [a=Hayato Kurosawa] — trombone [a=Yoshifusa Takahashi] — bass trombone [a=Chisato Ito] — oboe [a=Yohei Ota] — bass clarinet [a=Takumi Akaishi] — hurdy gurdy [a=Taku Sugimoto] — six-string electric bass [a=Dickson Dee] — computer [a=Atsuhiro Ito] — optron [i]Strings section[/i] conducted by [url=https://discogs.com/artist/2151999]Kenji Ito[/url]: [a=Hiroki Chiba], [a=Shuichi Hashimoto], [a=Tekko Koryu], [a=Kazuya Takeda], [a=Yuto Tsukada], [a=Fujitaka Ito], [a=Yoko Ikeda], [a=Léon Lo] — violin [a=Toshitaka Mukaiyama], [a=Mikiko Narui] — viola [a=Tadanobu Kumon] — cello