- Kaoru Abe
Kaoru Abe (阿部薫) (
May 3 ,1949 -September 9 ,1978 ) was a Japanesefree jazz alto saxophonist, who generally played solo. He died young from a drug overdose, and has been romanticized in the Japanese jazz underground. He was married to the authorIzumi Suzuki , and was the subject of the film "Endless Waltz" by the directorKoji Wakamatsu . Collaborators includedMasayuki Takayanagi ,Derek Bailey ,Sabu Toyozumi ,Aquirax Aida , andMotoharu Yoshizawa . Those said to have been influenced by Abe includeOtomo Yoshihide andMasayoshi Urabe .He was a cousin of the famous singerKyu Sakamoto [http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%98%BF%E9%83%A8%E8%96%AB_(%E3%82%B5%E3%83%83%E3%82%AF%E3%82%B9%E5%A5%8F%E8%80%85)]References
* Yuko Morita (ed.). "Abe Kaoru 1949-1978". Tokyo: Bunyusha, 1994 (Japanese)
* Soejima Teruto. "Nihon furii jazu shi" (日本フリージャズ史, The History of Japanese Free Jazz). Tokyo: Seidosha, 2002 (Japanese)External links
* [http://www.yo.rim.or.jp/~t_okuno/ak.html Kaoru Abe website, including an English discography]
* [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:3l0qoauaiijp Abe profile on allmusic.com]
* [http://mysite.verizon.net/spin17/kaoru.html Kaoru Abe reviews from "Opprobrium" magazine]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqvwBos9HQk Rare live footage of Abe from 1978]
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