Blood But Blues Okazaki Brothers

• 1 Gotta Decent Shoes? 07:13
• 2 The Dragon Flies 05:53
• 3 10-6-12 04:46
• 4 The Sun Set Over The Horizon 05:21
• 5 Theme For Z 05:57
• 6 L'Hirondelle 04:52
• 7 Great Cold 04:39
• 8 Sheriff 05:13
• 9 Long Way Home 05:04
• 10 Ralph Peterson 05:57
• 11 Awkward Beauty 04:14
• 12 Dream Hunter 05:12
• Total Runtime 01:04:21

Info for Blood But Blues

The trumpeter Yoshiro Okazaki and the saxophonist Masanori Okazaki. The pair, who have been at the heart of the Japanese jazz scene since the 1990s and have been members of the big band ‘Makoto Ozone No Name Horses’ since its formation, are holding a release concert for their album ‘Blood But Blues’, released under the name ‘Okazaki Brothers’. As they have focused on their respective solo projects in recent years, this marks their first joint performance as a brother duo in around 20 years. Makoto Ozone produced the album, and alongside Ozone himself, the rhythm section of No Name Horses (Shinpei Ogawa and Shinnosuke Takahashi) also contributed to the recordings.

Yoshiro Okazaki, trumpet
Masanori Okazaki, saxophone
Makoto Kozono, piano
Shinpei Ogawa, bass
Shinnosuke Takahashi,drums

Yoshiro Okazaki
Born April 27, 1971. From Koto Ward, Tokyo.

He began playing the trumpet at age 12, and was influenced by the movie "The Benny Goodman Story" which he saw in junior high school, leading him to start listening to jazz. He began playing jazz at age 17, studying under Issei Igarashi and Hiroshi Murata.

In the summer of 1990, he participated in the Berklee In Japan seminar, won a scholarship, and studied at Berklee College of Music in Boston in September 1991. He graduated from the Performance Department of the same school in 1994.

On August 21, 2003, he released his debut album, "HANK'S MOOD" (Eastworks Entertainment), with his own quintet, "OKAZAKI BROTHERS" (Masanori Okazaki: ts, Shigenori Miki: p, Shin Uemura: b, Daisuke Yoshioka: ds). In May 2005, he moved his base of operations to New York and obtained an artist visa in December of the same year. While in the US, he performed in numerous jazz clubs and was active in groups such as the Mingus Big Band, Mingus Dynasty, Valerie Ponomarev Big Band, and Makoto Ozone's No Name Horses.

In September 2008, he returned to Tokyo from New York and is currently active in live performances, concerts, and recordings. He is a part-time lecturer at Showa University of Music and Kunitachi College of Music.

Masanori Okazaki
Born in downtown Tokyo. In high school, he was a member of the brass band and played the clarinet. Upon entering Hosei University, he switched to tenor saxophone and encountered jazz in the Hosei University New Orange Swing Orchestra.

After graduating from the university, he received a scholarship to study at Berklee College of Music in Boston. While a student, he studied under George Garzone and Bill Pierce, graduating in May 1998. After returning to Japan, he has been active in various groups, participating in everything from small combos to large ensembles such as Makoto Ozone's No Name Horses and Junko Moriya's Orchestra. He also composes and arranges music for the Minami Aoyama Rokuchome Orchestra.

Since 2016, he has expanded his activities to the Nagoya area, joining the C.U.G Jazz Orchestra and the Hirofumi Miyamoto Group. As a jazz educator, he teaches at music schools in Tokyo and Nagoya, and in January 2017, he was invited to the jazz camp at National Dong Hwa University in Taiwan.

His performance activities are truly worldwide, including in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia, France, the United States, Austria, Switzerland, and Scotland.

Since 2022, he has served as a part-time lecturer at Showa University of Music.

This album contains no booklet.