Shunzo Ohno

Enriched by formative and varied experiences with Art Blakey, Machito, and Gil Evans, and thriving despite a near-tragic accident and a cancer diagnosis that threatened his ability to play, trumpeter Shunzo Ohno's five-decade career is a case study in determination and perseverance. Stylistically, it encompasses Ohno's Japanese heritage, traditional jazz, salsa, fusion, jazz-funk, and even hip-hop, highlighted by Grammy-winning albums with Machito and Evans, alliances with figures such as Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, and Buster Williams, and numerous dates as a leader, from Falter Out (1973) through Dreamer (2018). Ohno's best-known compositions include the soaring "Bubbles" and the powerful "Musashi," the latter of which took the grand prize at the 2013 International Songwriting Competition. Born in Gifu Prefecture, Ohno started playing trombone at 13, moved to trumpet at 17, and was barely in his twenties when he attained his first session credits, supporting vocalist Hideko Fujiwara and drummers Takeshi Inomata and Sadakuzu Tabata. He debuted as a leader with Falter Out (1973), a self-composed set recorded for Victor in Japan, and shortly thereafter toured with Art Blakey and set stakes in New York. Through the end of the '70s, Ohno cut two albums for East Wind, Something's Coming (1975) and Bubbles (1976), and one for Electric Bird, Quarter Moon (1979), while recording with the likes of drummer Norman Connors, saxophonist Carter Jefferson, and arranger/pianist David Matthews. One of the Connors sessions yielded a version of "Bubbles" with Jefferson and Ohno as featured players. The next decade, Ohno led two more Electric Bird dates, Antares (1980) and Manhattan Blue (1987), but was more occupied by work with Latin jazz leader Machito and orchestrator Gil Evans. This included Machito and His Salsa Big Band 1982 and Evans' Bud & Bird, both of which won Grammy Awards. Ohno also performed with Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, and Larry Coryell. Neither a car accident (in which he sustained serious injuries to his lips and teeth) nor stage four throat cancer kept Ohno down for long. Between those blows -- both of which necessitated lengthy recuperations and major adjustments in technique -- he appeared on long-term collaborator Buster Williams' Something More and David Byrne's Rei Momo, and also recorded Maya (1991) with his quintet. Around the time he fought off cancer, Ohno recorded Poetry of Japan (2000) for Absord and then went independent as a leader, releasing LPs such as All in One (2013), ReNew (2016), and Dreamer (2018). All in One featured "Musashi," a composition about perseverance that won that year's International Songwriting Competition grand prize, making Ohno the first Japanese recipient of the award. Also during this period, he was the subject of the documentary short Never Defeated: The Shunzo Ohno Story, narrated by Buster Williams.
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