The Last Supper

AMG Review of The Last Supper

Eugene Chadbourne
All Music Guide

One unexpected honor this release of avant-garde improvisation on a small, musician-run German label received was to be chosen for a book of superior album cover art on the basis of the painting by Herbert Bardenheuer. It is also one of the most pristine and effective recordings of this Japanese trumpeter during this stage of his playing, which was characterized by acoustic-based invention and a concentration on quickly shifting atoms of sound. Percussionist Lovens is a perfect improvising partner for Kondo during this phase, and they are as effective together here as they would be ineffective a few years later once the trumpeter went electric and began incorporating a stack of rack effects the size of a steamer trunk. For neither man would this extended piece, which ranges over both sides, really be The Last Supper, as the decades that followed have included many a catered dinner at various European jazz festivals. And, inevitably, Kondo's weakness at thinking in the long form may leave the listener still feeling hungry when it is all over.