Yagi, Masao (Tokyo, 14 Nov 1932)

Japanese pianist, composer, and arranger

He began his career playing Hawaiian music, then played jazz with the Ichiban Octet, led by the tenor saxophonist Shin Matsumoto, and as Toshiko Akiyoshi's replacement in Sadao Watanabe's Cozy Quartet. He formed a group in 1959 that in the following year recorded music by Thelonious Monk, in whose work he had taken a keen interest. In 1964 he recorded with Charlie Mariano and Hidehiko Matsumoto and began working as a composer and arranger; he also recorded with Helen Merrill (1969). Later he led a jazz-rock ensemble, continued to lead a bop group, and recorded as a leader (1976). Yagi's best-known composition is Oniwa soto, fukuwa uchi; his others include Grow, Etude, and Jinku (all 1964).

The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, © Macmillan Reference Ltd 1988