Jazz Artist known for his fruitful collaborations with Miles Davis' band and the Airto Moreira/Flora Purim group in the 1980s and 1990s.
He moved to the United States at the age of 22 and became a prominent fixture on the California jazz scene.
He was named University of California, Irvine's Chancellor Professor of Music.
His family moved to Cleveland, Ohio, soon after he was born, but returned to Japan when he was 12.
His work with the Miles Davis band as a sideman can be heard on 1989's Miles in Paris and Live Around the World from 1996.
