Career
He led his own bands, Player Piano and Bass Army. In 1992 Kato moved to New York where he still resides. Since coming to New York, has recorded and performed with the likes of John Zorn, Marc Ribot, Christian Marclay, Calvin Weston, Eyvind Kang, Billy Martin (percussionist), Nicolas Collins, Zeena Parkins, Charlie Burnham, James Pugliese, John King, Michael Schumacher, and many others
His collaborations include Dying Ground, Billy Martin"s Socket, Phase III, Italian DOC Remix, and the Crescent Moon Trio.
He has an electronic duo with James Fei. In 1995 he formed Death Ambient with Ikue Mori and Fred Frith and released three CDs on the Tzadik label, the latest, "Drunken Forest," in 2007.
In 2004 he formed a new trio, Green Zone, with Otomo Yoshihide and Uemura Masahiro—the lineup of the original Ground Zero, but this time with Kato as leader. The band name comes from the 10 km² area in central Baghdad during the United States-Iraq war.
The pieces Kato wrote for this trio were inspired by the United States invasion of Iraq.
His newest project is a quartet with Calvin Weston, Charlie Burnham and Briggan Krause. Kato"s music has become more political since he emigrated to the United States. His current works focus on pollution and global warming. He describes his music as "documentary without pictures.".