was a Japanese jazz trumpeter and

flugelhorn The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B, though some ...

ist.

Early life and education

Oki was born in

Kobe Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whic ...

. He began studying

koto Koto may refer to: * Koto (band), an Italian synth pop group * Koto (instrument), a Japanese musical instrument * Koto (kana), a ligature of two Japanese katakana * Koto (traditional clothing), a traditional dress made by Afro-Surinamese women * ...

as a child, under instruction from his mother, who was a professional kotoist. He took up trumpet from 1955 and played in high school bands, then enrolled at Osaka Industrial University, where he majored in architecture and concurrently played in Dixieland jazz ensembles.

Career

Early in his career, Oki studied under Fumio Nanri,

Kenny Dorham McKinley Howard "Kenny" Dorham (August 30, 1924 – December 5, 1972) was an American jazz trumpeter, singer, and composer. Dorham's talent is frequently lauded by critics and other musicians, but he never received the kind of attention or public ...

, and Sadao Watanabe, and in the 1960s and 1970s played with Nobusuke Miyamoto, Yoku Tamura,

Kosuke Mine Kosuke Mine (峰厚介) (born Kenji Wakabayashi, February 6, 1944, Tokyo) is a Japanese jazz saxophonist. Mine played clarinet as a youth before switching to saxophone as a teenager. He began recording as a leader around 1970, and worked during th ...

, and Akio Nishimura. In 1966, he was a cofounder of ESSG, along with

Masahiko Sato is a Japanese jazz pianist, composer and arranger. Early life Satoh was born in Tokyo on 6 October 1941. His mother was Setsu and his father, who owned small businesses, was Yoshiaki Satoh. The house that his family moved into in 1944 contained ...

Mototeru Takagi (28 December 1941 – December 2002) was a Japanese tenor saxophone player, known for playing in a distinctive and powerful free jazz style. He played with many of the most important Japanese free groups and musicians during the seventies, su ...

, and

Masahiko Togashi was a Japanese jazz percussionist and composer. Togashi grew up in a musical household; his father was a double-bassist in a swing jazz ensemble, and Togashi learned violin and drums, playing the latter in his father's band. He worked with Sadao ...

. In 1974, Oki relocated to Paris, where he played with Japanese expat Takashi Kako and played across Europe with

Art Farmer Arthur Stewart Farmer (August 21, 1928 – October 4, 1999) was an American jazz trumpeter and flugelhorn player. He also played flumpet, a trumpet–flugelhorn combination especially designed for him. He and his identical twin brother, double ...

Maynard Ferguson Walter Maynard Ferguson CM (May 4, 1928 – August 23, 2006) was a Canadian jazz trumpeter and bandleader. He came to prominence in Stan Kenton's orchestra before forming his own big band in 1957. He was noted for his bands, which often served ...

Noah Howard Noah Howard (April 6, 1943 – September 3, 2010) was an American free jazz alto saxophonist. Biography Born in New Orleans, Howard played music from childhood in his church. He first learned trumpet and later switched to alto, tenor and sopran ...

Lee Konitz Leon Konitz (October 13, 1927 – April 15, 2020) was an American composer and alto saxophonist. He performed successfully in a wide range of jazz styles, including bebop, cool jazz, and avant-garde jazz. Konitz's association with the cool jazz ...

Steve Lacy Steve Lacy may refer to: Music * Steve Lacy (saxophonist) (1934–2004), American jazz saxophonist and composer * Steve Lacy (singer) (born 1998), American musician Other occupations *Steve Lacy (coach) (1908–2000), American college sports coach ...

Michel Pilz Michel Pilz (born October 28, 1945, Bad Neustadt) is a German jazz clarinetist. Pilz was a student in clarinet at the Luxembourg Conservatory in the mid-1960s, then joined Manfred Schoof's ensemble in 1968, an association he would maintain into ...

, and Sam Rivers. In 1992 he became a member of the World Residents ensemble. He started to work since 2015, in Paris with pianist François Tusques, accordion player Claude Parle & Isabel Juan Pera singer. The French label "Improvising Beings" has edited a CD: "Le chant du Jubjub" It's a reference to Lewis Carroll. Écouter Tchangodeï itaru oki, Kent carter trio: jeux d’ombres, perfect emptiness, jazz à vienne

References

*Kazunori Sugiyama and

Barry Kernfeld Barry Dean Kernfeld (born August 11, 1950) is an American musicologist and jazz saxophonist who has researched and published extensively about the history of jazz and the biographies of its musicians. Education In 1968, Kernfeld enrolled at U ...

, "Itaru Oki". '' The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz'', 2nd edn. Japanese jazz trumpeters Musicians from Kobe 21st-century trumpeters 1941 births 2020 deaths NoBusiness Records artists {{Japan-musician-stub