FLUX SUMMA: Hiroshi Kobayashi

Hiroshi Kobayashi (Gunma, Japan, 1948 - Barcelona, 2006) was a musician, composer and multi-instrumentalist (piano, clarinet, saxophone and flutes) who took up residence in Europe in the mid-1970s and specialised in transverse flute and chamber music, after having completed studies at the Barcelona Municipal Music Conservatory.

In his music, where there was always room for improvisation, he used different types of flutes, such as the transverse flute, piccolo, treble flute, bass flute, sopranino, shinobue and shakuhachi.

Hiroshi played the shakuhachi with respect for both Japanese tradition and his innate concern for the

contemporary. The result is an elegant and profound music, on the border between both worlds, a synthesis of the ancestral and the avant-garde, and always fascinating. His musical background (son of a family practising traditional Japanese music) and his European musical career (free improvisation, electronic experimentation) converge in an intense and surprising discography, which also includes traditional music from the Iberian Peninsula, raga and long developments in the form of soundscapes. 

He collaborated with many instrumentalists and improvisers, such as the group Embryo, Christian Burchard, Hans-Joachim Roedelius, Tim Hodgkinson, Chris Cutler, Charlie Mariano and others. In Spain, he played with the group Lahiez in the 1980s, and from the 1990s on, he was an active part of the underground music scene in Barcelona, with multiple collaborations with musicians such as Joan Saura, Jakob Draminsky Højmark, Rafael Esteve, Jordi Brugueras, Quico Samsó, Eduard Altaba, Benet Paret, Ricardo Arias, Martin Hug, Michael Babinchak, Alain Wergifosse, Stocha, Albert Giménez, Juan Crek, Víctor Nubla, Alfredo Costa Monteiro, Nuno Rebelo, José Manuel Berenguer, etc.

A conservatory teacher, expert sailor and an excellent cook, he participated as a musician in countless national and international festivals, with one of the most refined techniques in playing the different types of flutes.

In this session we will watch a video with a selection of his performances between 1991 and 2000, followed by a discussion with Antoni Robert Gadea.

Activity curated by Flux Festival / Habitual Video Team

Acknowledgements to Cat


Antoni Robert Gadea

Antoni Robert Gadea holds a PhD in Astrophysics, as well as being a musician, poet and co-creator of Edicions Nova Era - Música Secreta, a record label that publishes alternative music and music programming.

www.antonirobert.bandcamp.com

www.novaera-msicasecreta.bandcamp.com