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