Otomo Yoshihide's New Jazz Orchestra (ONJO) was a Japanese experimental/free jazz/electroacoustic improv ensemble led by composer, sound producer, turntablist and guitarist Otomo Yoshihide as an extension of his New Jazz Quintet and Ensemble. The New Jazz Orchestra was born in January 2005, giving its debut live concerts at Shinjuku's Pit Inn and recording the first two albums "back-to-back," just two days apart, at GOK Sound studio in Tokyo. The 537029 CD featured Yoshihide's favorite "standards," such as Jim O'Rourke's "Eureka" and a few compositions by Ornette Coleman and Charles Mingus, as well as his original music, including three songs by Kahimi Karie and Mariko Hamada. The 1253019 CD entirely covered Eric Dolphy's eponymous '64 masterpiece, with Akira Sasaki's design even replicating the iconic Blue Note sleeve by artist. Both albums came out in Japan the same year, released by 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, 1424241 and Vol. 2 Parallel Circuit, released by Doubtmusic in the summer of 2007.
In September 2022, Belgian label label re-issued ONJO's 23992787 on 2xLP, marking the Orchestra's first and only release on vinyl.
Original members (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
Toshimaru Nakamura܍ — 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 Out to Lunch
ONJO 2006 Live tour
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
Guest/live members
Margareth Kammerer, Kayoko Ishu — vocals
Jo Foster, Hong Chulki, Choi Joonyong, Jin Sangtae, Ryu Hankil — electronics
Taku Hannoda, Teruyuki Oshima, Sato Yukie — guitar
Yoshimitsu Ichiraku, Keijun Kodama — percussion
Tomohiro Higashikinjo, Yosuke Toyoda, Miho Watanabe — alto saxophone
Yoichi Yoshida — tenor saxophone
Junichi Ishizuka, Hayato Kurosawa — trombone
Yoshifusa Takahashi — bass trombone
Chisato Ito — oboe
Yohei Ota — bass clarinet
Takumi Akaishi — hurdy gurdy
Taku Sugimoto — six-string electric bass
Dickson Dee — computer
Atsuhiro Ito — optron
Strings section conducted by Kenji Ito:
Hiroki Chiba, Shuichi Hashimoto, Tekko Koryu, Kazuya Takeda, Yuto Tsukada, Fujitaka Ito, Yoko Ikeda, Léon Lo — violin
Toshitaka Mukaiyama, Mikiko Narui — viola
Tadanobu Kumon — cello