Makoto Ozone

Grammy-nominated jazz pianist and composer Makoto Ozone was born in Kobe, Japan on March 25, 1961. He began playing organ at the age of two and had begun improvising by the time he was seven. At the age of 12, he heard the music of Oscar Peterson and switched his attention to the piano. In 1980, be began attending the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts and graduated summa cum laude in 1983. That same year, he released his debut album Live!! At the Berklee Performance Center and performed a solo recital at Carnegie Hall in New York City. He signed a deal with CBS Records before returning home to Japan. In 1984, Makoto Ozone released his self-titled album, which was followed by After (1986), Spring Is Here (1987), and Now You Know (1987). While working on his solo albums, he was also a sideman in the studio or on tour with artists such as Kimiko Itoh, Gary Burton, Chick Corea, Paquito D'Rivera, Arturo Sandoval, Branford Marsalis, Christian McBride, Dave Weckl, Mike Stern and others. In 1997, he formed Makoto Ozone the Trio, who released their self-titled debut album in 1997. The trio released nine albums up through 2005 before going on hiatus. In 2004, Makoto Ozone formed No Name Horses, a Japanese big band that has toured France, Austria, the US, the UK, Singapore and Japan. In 2017, Makoto Ozone the Trio reunited and released the album Dimensions. In total, he has released over 40 albums as a leader, co-leader, or sideman.

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