He came to New York from Tokyo to make it as a jazz musician, and he did, landing gigs in several touring bands and leading a trio of his own. He was elegant but never flashy on the piano, always well prepared and on time.
It was not an easy path. On Sept. 27, at around 7:20 in the evening, that path got a lot harder.
Coming off the subway at West 135th Street after a video shoot, Tadataka Unno, 40, a new father, encountered a group of about eight young people who blocked his way to the turnstiles. When he tried to pass through, one of them shoved him from behind. Another said he had pushed her, and a young man near her said, "My girl is pregnant.”