is a

Japanese jazz Japanese jazz is jazz played by Japanese musicians and connected to Japan or Japanese culture. The term often refers to the history of jazz in Japan, which has the largest proportion of jazz fans in the world, according to some estimates. Attempts ...

pianist.

Career

He 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 ...

, Japan. He began playing organ at two and by seven was an improviser. He appeared on Japanese television with his father from 1968 to 1970. At twelve he switched to piano after being impressed by the albums of

Oscar Peterson Oscar Emmanuel Peterson (August 15, 1925 – December 23, 2007) was a Canadian virtuoso jazz pianist and composer. Considered one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time, Peterson released more than 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards, ...

. In 1980, he entered the

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cours ...

and later worked with

Gary Burton Gary Burton (born January 23, 1943) is an American jazz vibraphonist, composer, and educator. Burton developed a pianistic style of four-mallet technique as an alternative to the prevailing two-mallet technique. This approach caused him to be he ...

. He also had his recording debut in 1983 before returning to his native Japan. Ozone has collaborated with vocalist Kimiko Itoh. They appeared as a duo at the

Montreux Jazz Festival The Montreux Jazz Festival (formerly Festival de Jazz Montreux and Festival International de Jazz Montreux) is a music festival in Switzerland, held annually in early July in Montreux on the Lake Geneva shoreline. It is the second-largest annual ...

, and he produced her album ''Kimiko'', which won the 2000 ''Swing Journal'' jazz disk grand prix for Japanese vocalist. Ozone is in charge of visiting professor of Jazz course in

Kunitachi College of Music The is a private music conservatory in Tachikawa, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1926 as the Tokyo Conservatory of Music, Kunitachi now offers study programs in performance, music education, composition, computer music, and musicology, for bachelor ...

since 2010.

Honors

*2003: Honorary Doctorate of Music from

."Jazz alums to receive honorary doctorates"
''UPI.com''. September 4, 2003. *2018:

Discography

As leader/co-leader

* ''Live!! At The Berklee Performance Center'' with Phil Wilson (Shiah, 1983) – live * ''Makoto Ozone'' (CBS/Sony, 1984) – recorded in 1981 * ''After'' (CBS/Sony, 1986) * ''Spring Is Here'' (Columbia, 1987) * ''Now You Know'' (Columbia, 1987) * ''Starlight'' (JVC/Victor, 1990) * ''Paradise Wings'' (JVC/Victor, 1991) * ''Walk Alone'' (JVC/Victor) 1992) * ''Breakout'' (Verve, 1994) * ''Face to face'' with

(GRP, 1995) * ''Nature Boys'' (Verve, 1995) * ''At the Montreux Jazz Festival'' (Videoarts, 1997) – live * ''Makoto Ozone: The Trio'' (Verve, 1997) * ''Three Wishes'' (Verve, 1998) * ''Dear Oscar'' (Polydor, 1998) * ''No Strings Attached'' (Polydor, 1999) * ''Pandora'' (Verve, 2000) * ''So Many Colors'' (Verve, 2001) * ''Treasure'' (Verve, 2002) * ''Reborn'' (Verve, 2003) * ''Virtuosi'' with Gary Burton (Concord, 2003) * ''New Spirit'' (Universal, 2004) * ''Real'' (Verve, 2005) * ''Duet'' with Satoru Shionoya (Verve, 2005) – live * ''Alive!!: Live at Blue Note Tokyo'' (Universal, 2007) – live recorded in 2006 * ''Falling in love, again'' (Universal, 2007) * ''Ballads '' (Verve, 2008) * ''Jungle'' (Verve, 2009) * ''Road to Chopin'' (Universal, 2010) * ''Haiku '' with

Anna Maria Jopek Anna Maria Jopek (born 14 December 1970) is a Polish vocalist, songwriter, and improviser. She represented Poland in the 1997 Eurovision Song Contest, with the song "Ale jestem" and finished 11th out of 25 participating acts; and in 2002, she co ...

(Universal Music Polska, 2011) * ''Live & Let Live - Love For Japan'' (Verve, 2011) - live * ''Pure Pleasure For The Piano'' with Ellis Marsalis Jr. (EmArcy, 2012) * ''My Witch's Blue'' with

Christian McBride Christian McBride (born May 31, 1972) is an American jazz bassist, composer and arranger. He has appeared on more than 300 recordings as a sideman, and is an eight-time Grammy Award winner. McBride has performed and recorded with a number of j ...

Jeff "Tain" Watts Jeff "Tain" Watts (born January 20, 1960) is a jazz drummer who has performed with Wynton Marsalis, Branford Marsalis, Betty Carter, Michael Brecker, Alice Coltrane, Ravi Coltrane, and others. Biography Watts got the nickname "Tain" from Kenny ...

(Verve, 2012) * ''

Time Thread ''Time Thread'' is a studio album by Japanese jazz pianist Makoto Ozone and American jazz vibraphonist Gary Burton. This collaboration album was released on via Verve Records Verve Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music ...

'' with Gary Burton (Verve, 2013) * ''Dimensions'' (Verve, 2017) * ''Until We Vanish'' (Universal, 2019) * ''Resonance'' with

Chick Corea Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea (June 12, 1941 – February 9, 2021) was an American jazz composer, pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and occasional percussionist. His compositions "Spain", " 500 Miles High", "La Fiesta", "Armando's Rhumba", and ...

(Universal, 2021) – live recorded in 2016 * ''Ozone 60'' (Verve, 2021) * ''Ozone 60: Standards'' (Verve, 2022)

As No Name Horses

* ''No Name Horses'' (Universal, 2006) * ''No Name Horses II'' (Verve, 2008) * ''Jungle'' (Verve, 2009) * ''Back at The Club "IN TRIBUTE"'' (Universal, 2011) * ''Road: Rhapsody in Blue'' (Universal, 2014)

Soundtracks

* '' - Original Soundtrack'' (Universal, 2008) * ''NHK The World Heritage: The Swell of Time - Original Soundtrack'' (Universal, 2011)

As sideman

With

* ''

Real Life Hits ''Real Life Hits'' is an album by vibraphonist Gary Burton recorded in 1984 and released on the ECM label in 1985.

'' (ECM, 1984) * '' Whiz Kids'' (ECM, 1986) * ''

Generations A generation is "all of the people born and living at about the same time, regarded collectively." Generation or generations may also refer to: Science and technology * Generation (particle physics), a division of the elementary particles * Gen ...

'' (Concord, 2004) With

Bobby Shew Bobby Shew (born March 4, 1941) is an American jazz trumpet and flugelhorn player. Biography He was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. After leaving college in 1960, Shew was drafted into the U.S. Army and played trumpet and toured ...

* ''Breakfast Wine'' (Pausa, 1985)

References

External links

Official website
*

All Music AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

1961 births Living people Japanese jazz pianists Berklee College of Music alumni Musicians from Kobe 21st-century pianists {{Jazz-pianist-stub