Toshinori Kondo

Toshinori Kondo (December 15, 1948 in Ehime Prefecture, Japan) is an avant-garde jazz and jazz fusion trumpeter. He has lived in Japan, New York City, and Amsterdam. In college he was a member of the band "Funky Beaters" and by 1976 he was a member of an ensemble which gained some notice in his native Japan. His early influences were Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Miles Davis. That said, his style is quite distinct from theirs and influenced by his religious studies, among other things.