Kazuhisa Uchihashi is a Japanese guitar and daxophone player active in experimental and improvised music. He founded the trio Altered States and was a core member of Ground Zero (with Otomo Yoshihide). A leading performer of the daxophone―an instrument invented by Hans Reichel―he received critical acclaim for his album singing daxophone, which explores its expressive, voice-like qualities. Uchihashi served as music director for the avant-garde theater company Ishinha for over 30 years and now collaborates with director Toshiki Okada. He also directed Festival Beyond Innocence (1996–2007), a major platform for experimental music in Japan.

Kazuhisa Uchihashi is a highly respected Japanese guitarist, composer, and improviser whose work spans experimental music, free improvisation, and live performance. Born in Osaka, he began playing guitar as a teenager and has since cultivated a unique sonic language that integrates electric guitar, real-time effects, extended techniques, and unconventional instruments.

He is the founder and guitarist of the acclaimed improvisational trio Altered States, active since 1990. In the 1990s, Uchihashi was a core member of Ground Zero, the influential noise/improv group led by Otomo Yoshihide, which played a pivotal role in redefining Japan’s experimental music scene.

Uchihashi is also a leading performer of the daxophone, an experimental instrument invented by Hans Reichel, celebrated for its rich, voice-like timbres. His use of the daxophone and guitar alike reflects a radical, boundary-pushing approach to sound.

Over more than three decades, Uchihashi served as music director for the avant-garde theater company Ishinha, known for its large-scale, site-specific outdoor productions. In recent years, he has collaborated extensively with playwright and director Toshiki Okada, composing and performing music for critically acclaimed international stage works.

His vast list of collaborators reflects his stylistic range and deep involvement in both the avant-garde and progressive music worlds. Uchihashi has performed with Derek Bailey, Fred Frith, Chris Cutler, Dagmar Krause, John Greaves, Daevid Allen, Lee Konitz, Kevin Ayers, Roger Turner, Zeena Parkins, Shelley Hirsch, Hans Reichel, Ned Rothenberg, Frank Gratkowski, Aki Takase, Christian Marclay, Wayne Horvitz, Han Bennink, and many others.

He is also the founder and director of Festival Beyond Innocence, a long-running platform for experimental and interdisciplinary music in Japan, fostering collaboration and innovation across borders.