Celebrated Jazz/Classical Pianist Makoto Ozone Announces First NYC Solo Recital in 30+ Years

Pianist Makoto Ozone, hailed internationally for both his jazz and classical performances, takes the stage at Japan Society on Thursday, June 7 (7:30 pm). It will be his first NYC solo concert in more than 30 years, following a 1985 recital at Town Hall. Ozone will offer an upbeat, freewheeling program of selections from his wide-ranging repertoire, spanning Gershwin and Bernstein, Piazzolla and Ravel. The concert will take place in Japan Society's newly remodeled Lila Acheson Wallace Auditorium. Tickets are $38, $30 for Japan Society members, available at japansociety.org.

Ozone's discography of nearly 40 recordings includes collaborations with fellow pianist Chick Corea, saxophonist Branford Marsalis, and vibraphonist Gary Burton. He has made several albums with Burton, including the Grammy-nominated Virtuosi (2002), which earned praise from All About Jazz's Craig Jolley: "Close listening to pieces like the Rachmaninoff Prelude gives the listener a clue to the enormous musicianship necessary to bring off music at this level. Burton and Ozone are 'Virtuosi,' but they are more - they are premier artists who bring passion and individuality to their music."

On the classical side, Ozone is a sought-after concerto soloist who toured Asia in 2014 with the New York Philharmonic under Alan Gilbert. Reviewing a performance of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue with the Philharmonic and Gilbert, Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim of The New York Times wrote, "In a series of dazzling, improvised cadenzas, Mr. Ozone showed how much classically grounded technique can expand a jazz pianist's freedom: it opens that many more musical worlds to roam.

"There was Mozartean wit in one impishly off-kilter passage and milky Impressionist colors in another. One improvisation saw Mr. Ozone, hands crossed, adding tufted offbeat accents to the robustly voiced melody. In another, his voicing was so nuanced that it created a spatial effect, as if two pianos were playing with one gradually moving away from the other." Ozone has also appeared as a concerto soloist with the NDR Sinfonieorchester, the Orchestra de chambre de Paris, and the NHK Symphony Orchestra, among other top ensembles.

Makoto Ozone was born in Kobe, Japan in 1961. He started playing musical instruments under the influence of his father, a pianist and organist. At the age of twelve, Ozone turned his attention to jazz piano. He moved to the United States in 1980 to study composition and arranging at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Upon graduating in 1983, he gave a solo recital at the Carnegie Hall, and became the first Japanese musician to sign an exclusive contract with CBS, leading off with a self-titled debut album featuring Gary Burton and bassist Eddie Gomez.

Ozone recently received the Medal of Honor with purple ribbon, Japan's highest award to individuals who have made significant contributions to the nation's academic or cultural life. ?

Two evenings prior to the full concert at Japan Society, Ozone will play a short teaser set as the featured musical guest at Japan Society's prestigious Annual Dinner, which attracts more than 600 business and diplomatic leaders each year.