Influenced by his father Minoru, jazz pianist/organist, Makoto Ozone was brought up in a musically rich environment and started playing the organ on his own at a very young age. He appeared on TV at the age of six and performed regularly on Osaka Mainichi broadcasting at the age of seven. It was an Oscar Peterson concert that turned him onto the jazz piano at the age of twelve and became involved in writing orchestral arrangements when he studied under Tadao Kitano, leader of the “Tadao Kitano and Arrow Jazz Orchestra” big band.

In 1976, Makoto Ozone made his debut as a jazz pianist at “Wide Wide Jazz”, the jazz festival held in Kobe. He moved to the U.S. in 1980 and studied jazz composition and arranging at Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA. In 1983, soon after graduating first on the list from Berklee, he gave a solo recital at the Carnegie Recital Hall and it was not long before he signed an exclusivity contract with CBS, making his international debut in 1984 with the album “Ozone”. Makoto Ozone joined Grammy award-winning vibraphonist Gary Burton's quartet and toured enthusiastically around the world. It was around this time that he began his other musical career as composer. Since then he has been composing for various musicians including Gary Burton.

Makoto Ozone has released four albums with CBS, three with Victor Music Entertainment, and more than ten albums with Universal music/Verve label. In 2003, he was nominated for a Grammy Award with his duo album “Virtuosi” (Concord) with Gary Burton.

In recent years he has spent extensive time focusing on classical music. With internationally known conductors like Charles Dutoit, Alexandre Rabinovitchr, Tadaaki Otaka, and Michiyoshi Inoue, he has played Gershwin, Bernstein, Beethoven, and Mozart in collaborations with Sinfonia Varsovia, the New Japan Philharmonic, the Sapporo Symphony Orchestra, and the Miyazaki International Music Festival Orchestra. At the 18th National Culture Festival in Yamagata 2003 he played and conducted his own composition, a piano concerto named “Mogami”. His performances of chamber music with violinist Tsugio Tokunaga and violist Masao Kawasaki at the Miyazaki International Music Festival in 2007 were received enthusiastically. He has been invited to numerous music festivals in Japan and overseas.

Although deeply committed to his activities as a performer, Makoto Ozone's interests reach beyond the borders of music and shines in a wide range of fields. He hosts a popular FM program “Oz Meets Jazz” and is invited to make regular television appearances. He also produces music for stage performances and TV dramas, and creates and hosts workshops introducing young children to music.