Makoto Ozone
Biography
Majoring in jazz composition and arrangement, Makoto Ozone graduated summa cum laude from Berklee College of Music in 1983. The same year, he gave a solo recital at Carnegie Hall in New York City, becoming the first Japanese musician to be exclusively signed to CBS, with the worldwide release of his first album OZONE.
His stellar career has brought him a Grammy nomination in 2003, and has constantly been in the forefront of the international jazz scene, recording and touring with the greats of Gary Burton, Chick Corea, Paquito D'Rivera, Arturo Sandoval, Branford Marsalis, Jeff “Tain” Watts, Christian McBride, Dave Weckl, Mike Stern and others. In 2004, he formed the big band "No Name Horses" in Japan. The band has been performing successfully in France, Austria, the US, the UK, Singapore and Japan ever since.
In recent years, Makoto has also been focusing on works from the classical music repertoire, playing concertos by Bernstein, Mozart, Rachmaninov, and Prokofiev, with major orchestras both in Japan and abroad. Such performances have been highly acclaimed by the press and music lovers world-wide.
In 2016, the first duo tour in Japan with Chick Corea swept the nation away. Following year, Makoto also toured the US, and later through Japan with Gary Burton, who announced his retirement from performing. In 2022/2023 seasons, Makoto and his “No Name Horses” toured in Japan with their first best album “THE BEST”.
Makoto turned 60 in 2021, and commemorated this special age with the tour of “OZONE60” throughout every prefecture in Japan. In 2023, he had a breakthrough summer with several international projects; he performed at the Hollywood Bowl with the Los Angeles Philharmonic conducted by Leonard Slatkin. He also started the world tour with world-class bassist Avishai Cohen from New York.
In recent years, he has been working on the project for young artists called “From OZONE till Dawn” and has been focusing on fostering the next generation of jazz musicians. Makoto has been awarded with Shiju-HouShyou (The Medal of Honor with Purple Ribbon) in 2018.
Projects
The “Amity Duet” with Avishai Cohen
Photo by Makoto Ebi
A dream-come-true collaboration of two of the leading figures in contemporary music today. The ‘ Amity ‘ Duet, inspired through Friendship, Peace , Harmony and Mutual understanding. Makoto Ozone and Avishai Cohen, are both unique creators of jazz in the world today with substantial paths and careers forged, who are also both closely intertwined to belated jazz legend Chick Corea. They will join forces presenting a series of intimate acoustic performances throughout the globe during 2023 - 2024.
Makoto Ozone new trio "TRiNFiNiTY”
Photo by Takumi Saitoh
Makoto Ozone (Piano)
Kunito Kitai (Drums)
Shimpei Ogawa (Bass)
Seizing on the milestone of 40th anniversary after his debut, the world-wide acclaimed pianist, Makoto Ozone is now launching a brand new trio “Trinfinity”, moving onto the next phase of his musical journey, seeking to open up another new horizon.
After making his world debut the moment he graduated from Berklee College of Music in 1983, Makoto has collaborated with the world top-class jazz musicians in projects such as “The Trio” (James Genus & Clarence Penn), “Super Quartet” (Branford Marsalis, Christian McBride & Jeff “Tain” Watts), “Amity Duet” ( with Avishai Cohen) and many many more. Now he begins a new journey in this new collaboration with Japan’s rising star bassist Shimpei Ogawa and drummer Kunito Kitai.
Shimpei and Kunito have worked together with Makoto since 2021 in “From OZONE till Dawn”, a project lead by Makoto to collaborate with young artists, and have played as his sidemen at venues such as Blue Note Tokyo and other major concert halls including a memorable concert with New Japan Philharmonic performing Makoto’s original piece. It has only been natural for Makoto to think about forming a new trio with the talented and promising Shimpei and Kunito, after these creative collaborations and building a tight bond of trust.
In August 2023, they recorded their trio debut album in New York which will be released in January 2024 from Universal Music. Trinfinity is a brand new project by the master of piano and two shining stars, sharing passion for jazz beyond generation. The trio will will surely be a band representing the present and the future jazz music.
Album Information
Trinfinity (UM-2232)
Makoto Ozone (Pf), Shimpei Ogawa (Bs), Kunito Kitai (Ds)
Guest: Paquito D'Rivera (Cl), Donny McCaslin (Ts), Riko Sasaki (As), Takafumi Nikaido (Per)
Photo by Takumi Saitoh
“No Name Horses” (Big Band)
Photo by Ryota Mori
No Name Horses is an all-star big band led by Makoto Ozone, composed of 15 top musicians who represent the Japanese jazz scene, many of them heading their own bands and projects. Besides the national tours, NNH performed internationally many times, including at: the U.S. (“IAJE (International Association for Jazz Education/NY)” which is the world largest jazz convention), France (the International Piano Festival of La Roque d’Anthéron), Scotland (Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival), Vienna, and Singapore (Mosaic Music Festival). In 2014, in commemoration of their 10-year anniversary, NNH released the album “ROAD”. The Japan tour grabbed a lot of attention, and the double big band concert with Christian McBride Big Band at Tokyo Jazz Festival was one of the highlights. In 2018, they were invited to Japan-France cultural exchange event “Japonisme 2018”, and the performance in Paris was a huge hit. For the 15 th anniversary in 2020, NNH released the album “Until We Vanish”, and in 2022/2023 season, they released their first best album which was followed by a nationwide tour throughout Japan.
15 members list:
Makoto Ozone (Piano)
Eric Miyashiro (Trumpet)
Mitsukuni Kohata (Trumpet)
Akira Okumura (Trumpet)
Yoshiro Okazaki (Trumpet)
Eijiro Nakagawa (Trombone)
Nobuhide Handa (Trombone)
Junko Yamashiro (Bass Trombone)
Kazuhiko Kondo (Alto Saxophones)
Atsushi Ikeda (Alto Saxophones)
Toshio Miki (Tenor Saxophones)
Masanori Okazaki (Tenor Saxophones)
Yoshihiro Iwamochi (Baritone Saxophones)
Kengo Nakamura (Bass)
Shinnosuke Takahashi (Drums)