Shunzo Ohno
The Pocket Jazz Club, 130 W 46th St, New York, NY
Hosted by The Pocket Jazz Club
Shunzo Ohno is a visionary trumpeter, composer, bandleader, and musical innovator whose extraordinary career bridges jazz, funk, fusion, and contemporary music. A celebrated Japanese-born artist, Ohno rose to international prominence with Art Blakey’s legendary Jazz Messengers and collaborated with jazz icons Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, and Gil Evans. For more than five decades, he has transformed his experiences, influences, and heritage into a distinctive voice that continually moves jazz forward. Known for his powerful trumpet sound, adventurous compositions, and fearless improvisation, Ohno moves effortlessly between explosive jazz-funk grooves, sophisticated contemporary jazz, soulful ballads, and richly orchestrated ensemble works. His music is both deeply rooted and relentlessly forward-looking. For Shunzo Ohno, music truly comes alive in the presence of a live audience. Every concert becomes a shared experience — an opportunity for people from multiple backgrounds, cultures, and generations to connect and simply elevate being together. Ohno believes this shared experience can reach far beyond the concert hall: music has the power to open hearts, dissolve limitations, and empower our shared humanity. His performances are invitations to experience unlimited possibilities of joy. With the audience as an essential part of the musical experience, Ohno seeks to create a powerful collective energy, one that carries beyond the stage and into the world. His vision is to use music as a universal language for human connection, inspiring audiences forward. An award-winning composer, Ohno received the Grand Prize in the International Songwriting Competition for his composition “Musashi” and two Grammys.