Memory Lane to Sendai(PART 2 OF 3)
Oh my Goodness!...your second home town is so near the nuclear disaster in Fukushima...It must have been contaminated by the radiation of the nuclear plant.
Yes...some people in the city are quite worried about the contamination.
I wonder if some of your relatives still live over there.
Fortunately, none of my relatives live in Sendai. All my family and relatives live near Tokyo, but some of them believe that the contamination has spread over Tokyo by now.
Really?
In fact, the people who live in and around Tokyo are quite agitated by the news of the contamination.
I could understand that. But tell me, Kato, how come the songs of Engelbert Humperdinck remind you of Sendai.
'Cause I enjoyed the most of those songs in Sendai when I was a college student over there. Besides, I enjoyed the Jazz Festival in Sendai while I stayed in Japan.
The 21st Jazz Festival
in Sendai
(September 10 & 11, 2011)
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Is this jazz festival famous?
You bet on that, Diane. More than 700 bands took part in the festival, including more than 5、000 amateur and professional musicians. A hundred open-air stages were set up all over the city. More than 750,000 music fans attended the two-day festival. These days, even famous musicians from New York and Paris take part in the festival.
Like who?
Well...one of them is Makoto Ozone.
Makoto Ozone
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Makoto Ozone (小曽根真) was born on March 25, 1961 in Kobe.
He is a Japanese jazz pianist.
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 albums by Oscar Peterson.
In 1980 he entered the Berklee College of Music in Boston and graduated as the top of his class.
Later he worked with Gary Burton.
He also had his 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, and he produced her album Kimiko, which won the 2000 Swing Journal jazz disk grand prix for Japanese vocalist.
SOURCE: "Makoto Ozone"
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
He lives in Japan, doesn't he?
Yes, but his activies are centered around New York.
I see...and what did he do in the festival?
He formed an impromptu jazz band from participants, arranged "Sukiyaki" into Jazz, and played it.
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Is the pianist Ozone?
Oh no, the pianist in the clip is NOT Ozone 'cause I couldn't get the clip of the actual performance. But the sukiyaki song was genuinely arranged into jazz. The audience loved the performance, so Ozone and the band played "Take The 'A' Train" for encore.
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Duke Ellington playd it, didn't he?
Yes, he did. It's his theme music.
Did he also take part in the festival?
No, of course not. Duke Ellington died in 1974. He's been long dead since.
Kato, are you an Ozone fan?
No, I'm not an enthusiastic fan. I didn't even know his name.
What makes you get interested in him?
'Cause I learned that at twelve Ozone switched to piano after being impressed by albums by Oscar Peterson. I'm an Oscar Peterson fan. Actually, while I lived in Toronto, I enjoyed his live performances at CNE (Canadian National Exhibition).
I like him, too.
I thought you didn't like jazz.
What makes you think so?
'Cause the other day you gave me a Miles Davis CD, and said, "I'm not much of a jazz fan."
Oh,... did I say that? but I like Oscar's piano very much.
Do you? Then you should listen to this:
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Oh, my Goodness ... Superb! Amazing! Now, I love his piano even more than before.
I knew ... I expeted you would say that ... He, he, he, he, he, ...
(To be followed)