Jazz pianist Makoto Ozone has spent the last 20 years moving between Japan and the United States, so it is perhaps no surprise that his most recent release, New Spirit, moves comfortably between two musical worlds classical and jazz. Though Ozone could rest on a remarkable career in jazz, becoming one of the most recognized Japanese jazz musicians abroad, first with Gary Burton in the 1980s and later with his own trio, he has never stopped pushing the boundaries of his work.
That musical restlessness has led him from the top ranks of American jazz toward a broader musical focus. On the classical-based duet CD in 2002, Virtuosi, Burton and Ozone explored Ravel with jazz improvisation. On New Spirit, Ozone takes this one step further, combining his trio of Clarence Penn and James Genus on bass with a classical string quartet to make a highly unique septet. After a decade of crisp, focused piano trio recordings, this shift may come as a bit of a surprise. Yet Ozone viewed both classical and jazz both as rich sources of expression. For his upcoming tour, his trio will perform together with a string quartet in a unique exploration of what Ozone explained in an interview are distinct, yet extremely complementary approaches to music. His tour comes to Tokyo in late August.
What made you want to move so far into the classical world?