Makoto Ozone the Trio - sometimes referred to as The Trio - was a Japanese jazz group formed by Grammy-nominated pianist and composer Makoto Ozone in 1997. Makoto Ozone was born in Kobe, Japan on March 25, 1961. He began playing organ at the age of two and had begun improvising by the time he was seven. At the age of 12, he heard the music of Oscar Peterson and switched his attention to the piano. In 1980, be began attending the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts and graduated summa cum laude in 1983. That same year, he released his debut album Live!! At the Berklee Performance Center and performed a solo recital at Carnegie Hall in New York City. He signed a deal with CBS Records before returning home to Japan. In 1984, Makoto Ozone released his self-titled album, which was followed by After (1986), Spring Is Here (1987), and Now You Know (1987). While working on his solo albums, he was also a sideman in the studio or on tour with artists such as Kimiko Itoh, Gary Burton, Chick Corea, Paquito D'Rivera, Arturo Sandoval, Branford Marsalis, Christian McBride, Dave Weckl, Mike Stern and others. In the second half of the 1990s, he formed Makoto Ozone the Trio featuring Kiyoshi Kitagawa (bass) and Clarence Penn (drums). Their self-titled debut, which featured musical assistance from guitarist John Scofield, was released in 1997. The Trio followed that album up with Dear Oscar (1998), Three Wishes with Wallace Roney (1998), and No Strings Attached (1999) before Kiyoshi Kitagawa left The Trio. Bassist James Genus replaced Kitagawa and the Trio recorded the albums Pandora (2000), So Many Colors (2001), Reborn (2003), New Spirit (2004) and Real (2005) before they went on hiatus. In 2017, Makoto Ozone, Clarence Penn, and James Genus reunited for the album Dimensions.
