Jazz Pianist Turns To Classical

Celebrated jazz pianist Makoto Ozone has made the transition from jazz to classical music.

Ozone who gained notice as a student at Berklee College of Music in the early 1980s, when vibraphonist Gary Burton recruited him for a series of acclaimed ensembles, he’s released almost three dozen albums and recorded with fellow masters like Chick Corea, Branford Marsalis and Michael Brecker.

Over the past decade, he’s also performed with some of the world’s leading orchestras, including a recent Asian tour playing Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” with the New York Philharmonic so well received that Alan Gilbert, the orchestra’s music director, arranged for a special April concert with Ozone at Avery Fisher Hall. Looking to get in on the toe-tapping action, the San Francisco Symphony quickly engaged Ozone for three different programs this weekend playing Bernstein, Ravel and, of course, Gershwin.