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Otomo Yoshihide

Otomo Yoshihide (born August 1, 1959 in Yokohama, Japan) is a Japanese experimental musician, turntablist and guitarist. He played in rock bands while at college, but turned to improvisation after discovering free jazz and free improvisation musicians like the guitarist Derek Bailey, the saxophonist Kaoru Abe and guitarist Masayuki Takayanagi (from whom he had lessons). Otomo studied at Tokyo University from 1979 where he took a course on ethnomusicology in which he concentrated on Japanese pop music during World War II and the development of musical instruments during the Chinese Cultural Revolution (samples of instruments and music from this period are found in several of his records).

Otomo Yoshihide (born August 1, 1959 in Yokohama, Japan) is a Japanese experimental musician, turntablist and guitarist. He played in rock bands while at college, but turned to improvisation after discovering free jazz and free improvisation musicians like the guitarist Derek Bailey, the saxophonist Kaoru Abe and guitarist Masayuki Takayanagi (from whom he had lessons). Otomo studied at Tokyo University from 1979 where he took a course on ethnomusicology in which he concentrated on Japanese pop music during World War II and the development of musical instruments during the Chinese Cultural Revolution (samples of instruments and music from this period are found in several of his records).

Member of: FEN
Otomo Yoshihide Live in Shenzhen
Over the years, Otomo’s music has spanned across Free Jazz, Noise, Free Improvisation, Sound Art, popular music, film scores, and compositions for large amateur ensembles. Carrying the lineage of the Japanese Free Jazz movement that developed in the 1960’s, Otomo has exploited the sonic possibilities of both the electric guitar and turntable. He is one of the key figures who defined a now internationally recognized genre of Japanoise. His band Ground Zero, which was active throughout the 1990’s,…
Plays Standards
** 2LP exclusive 25th Anniversary release **  Finally this day has come - Not Two Records together with Wschodnie Triady and No Earplugs proudly present you special edition of Ground Zero Plays Standards 2-LPs exclusive 25th Anniversary release! Legendary Ground Zero Plays Standards has been released in 1997 for Nani Records, then reissued for DIW (2000) and ReR (2002). So far it has only been released on CD, until this day. Vinyl edition is available now in limited copies. The vinyl master was …
Out To Lunch
Much-needed repress. First-time vinyl release. Old-style gatefold LP with liner notes by Kahimi Karie, Otomo Yoshihide & Tonoyama Taiji. Reissue, originally released on CD in 2005. Eric Dolphy's final studio album is hailed as one of the finest examples of mid-60s post-bop. Dolphy, having recorded the album in February 1964, was in Europe less than six weeks later and his all-too-brief life ended less than two months after that. It marked his last flurry of original compositions and is considere…
Big Can
*In process of stocking* "There was this large, abandoned, cylindrical metal object, maybe an oil tank. In 2009, several people cam to the site and made some noise. They were Otomo Yoshihide, Ryu Hankil, Yuen Cheewai, Yan Jun, Sachiko M, Yang Ge, Xian Qiang, Hong Qile, Gogo J, Olivier Heux and Junyuan. The sounds chosen are refreshingly non-obvious, no fist-banging on the interior walls. There are soft clocks and drips as well as a number of sustained sounds–whistling, moaning, keening–that don’…
Live In Europe 2016
Stunning duo comprised of two of the most important musicians of the Japanese underground/avant-garde, Otomo Yoshihide in a duo with the great Japanese drummer, Hiroshi Yamazaki – who has Kaoru Abe among his extensive list of past collaborators, and was also a member of Masayuki Takayanagi’s pioneering New Directions group. This album is dedicated to Masayuki Takayanagi.Otomo Yoshihide moves between free jazz, noise, improvisation, composition and the unclassifiable with a generosity that opens …
Duo / Timing
** 2021 Stock ** Meeting at GOK Sound studio in Kichijoji, Japan in front of a small audience, Swedish baritone saxophonist Mats Gustafsson (The Thing, Fire!) also performing on flutephone and live electronics, and Otomo Yoshihide (Ground-Zero, Regenorchester) performing on guitar, turntable and banjo, recorded these eight amazing improvisations of unusual and unique attitudes and timing. After 2 years it materialized on CD work at all. Mats Gustafsson's strongest baritone saxophone, self-made i…
Soto
Tip! *2022 stock* Sploosh Records presents Soto by Otomo Yoshihide and Martín Escalante. Recorded by Kota Uematsu at Soto, Kyoto on 05/30/19. Mixed and mastered by Lasse Marhaug. Thanks to Kukangendai, Miho, Jonas. Artwork by Ron Regé Jr.Otomo Yoshihide - GuitarMartín Escalante - Sax
Live in Florence
* Edition of 175 * Recorded on May 30th, 2018 at Tempo Reale Festival in Florence, Italy. Mixed & Mastered by Ryan Power. Performed by Otomo Yoshihide - guitar and turntables and Chris Pitsiokos - alto saxophone and electronics. Layout & Cover Art by Jaime Zurverza.
Imagined Commonities: Live At La Cave 12, Genève
FEN is an improvised music quartet. Comprising Otomo Yoshihide (Japan), Yuen Chee Wai (Singapore), Yan Jun (China) and Ryu Hankil (Korea), it was formed in 2008 in Marseille. The initial intent of forming FEN was not based on a particular pursuit of any specific form of musical aesthetic, but rather to develop and deepen the improvised music networks of Asia. This desire was furthered by these 4 individuals, each with their individual endeavours to organise music-related activities and bridge co…
Eastern Saga: Live at Tusk
Turkish free jazzers Konstrukt continue their series of exciting collaborations with Otomo Yoshihide, highly repudiated multi-instrumentalist and composer in the experimental world. #4 in the continuing series of Konstrukt collaborations on Karlrecords is a live document of the concert by the Turkish freeform group with the Japanese experimental musician Otomo Yoshihide from the TUSK Festival 2018. Konstrukt, the Istanbul based free jazz/freeform group founded and led by Umut Çağlar and Korhan F…
No One's Island
FEN (Far East Network) is a group project made up of musicians from Singapore, Japan, China, and South Korea who play improvised music. It was first started on the suggestion of globally renowned musician Otomo Yoshihide in 2008 for a French festival MIMI. Each member is an artist who works individually on the experimental music scene in his respective country. They have been supporting each other's activities by organizing concerts in their own countries, and this relationship became the motiva…
Trace Cuts
eRikm: 1 turntable + FXMartin Tetreault: modified turntable + surfacesOtomo Yoshihide: 1 turntable + guitarRecorded on 22th may during Musica Genera Festival 2004 by Artur Nowak.Edited & mix : erikm.Cover artwork : Trace Cut / eRikm
Unreleased Recordings 1975 - 2012
Unreleased Recordings comprises 5 previously unreleased tracks by Otomo Yoshihide, both electric and acoustic, recorded in different locations in Japan between 2002 and 2012.  Side A (Electric Side) features Otomo’s earliest ever recordings. Recorded at home in Fukushima in 1975 when he was only 16, Organ features the Japanese musician on organ and electronics. A must-have for any fan of hardcore Japanese improv/noise.
Psychogeography, An Improvisational Derive
Recorded live at RedBull Studios as part of Improfest 4/2017 - Festival Internacional de Improvisação e Arte Sonora, São Paulo, Brazil. The legendary Otomo Yoshihide playing guitar and bass as well as turntables in company of: Antonio Panda Gianfratti (Contemporary Percussion, Drums) Marco Scarassatti (Viola de Cocho, Self-made instruments: Kraiser, PássaroCocho, Tromp Kirk Roland)  Paulo Hartmann (Prepared 3rd Bridge Guitar, Freteless preparerd Chiquita, Gambelão and Effects). Great!
Good Cop Bad Cop
Recorded in Liverpool back in 2003, this improvised performance unites two of the UK's foremost improv exponents (Tony Bevan and Paul Hession) with two pioneers of modern free music, the multi-talented guitarist, turntablist and noise artist Otomo Yoshihide and the late, great Derek Bailey.The performance shuffles into first gear during the speculative, tentative first throes of "No Hiding Place/Softly Softly", establishing a ruthlessly abstract sound world from the outset, only to tighten up sl…
Guitar solo 2015 Right
Otomo Yoshihide's Guitar Solo "LEFT" was released last summer but "RIGHT" is completely different from "LEFT". the 123 short fragments of Otomo's guitar sounds are run by computer programming at random so no one know how the sound played. This CD is one infinity."-Doubtmusic "What is most remarkable about the single, 62-minute track on Otomo Yoshihide's Guitar Solos 2015 RIGHT is how consistent, top to bottom, it sounds. Or, viewed through a different lens, how much coherence (real or imagined)…
live at Hall Egg Farm
English living legend percussionist, Roger Turner plays in Tokyo lin 2015 and this is one of the live performance in Fukaya city, Saitama prefecture. Roger percussion solo, Otomo electric guitar added and Japanese free jazz patriarch, Sato added, then becomes intense and has musical speed.
live at SuperDeluxe
English living legend percussionist, Roger Turner plays in Japan last year and this is one of the live performance in Tokyo. Roger's feathery and dynamic percussion playing and Otomo Yoshihide's noisy electric guitar playing. An improv meeting of two masters with very different but equally impressive histories. Across two long tracks they give an object lesson in the art of duo improvisation, a format in which both players are constantly exposed with no easy place to hide, although that clear…
Guitar Solo 2015 Left
Reflecting on his studies with guitarist Masayuki Takayanagi, Otomo Yoshihide plays one of Takayanagi's favorite electric guitars, a 1963 Gibson-175, to record 6 extended and informed free improvisations, including Ornette's "Lonely Woman" and "Song for Che"."It's been a quarter-century since I broke away from my teacher, Masayuki Takayanagi. In recording this album, I used a 1963 Gibson-175 electric guitar that had been one of Takayanagi-san's favorites. The occasion that led to this guitar com…
Untitled
The first duo release ever by these two masters of improvised music presents revelatory and astonishing music for electric guitar and drums. A landmark ! The LP comes in an awesome heavy and sturdy gatefold. The CD comes in a nice digipak. 'This is one ear-cleansing ride. One to play loud and one to play on repeat for a couple of time. Excellent recording of an excellent concert.' Vital Weekly, number 935. 
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