Sound

Kaoru Abe

Born May 5, 1949 · Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan

Died September 9, 1978 · aged 29

Kaoru Abe (阿部 薫, Abe Kaoru) was an influential Japanese avant-garde alto saxophonist. Self-taught at a young age, Abe performed with notables such as Motoharu Yoshizawa, Takehisa Kosugi, Yosuke Yamashita, Derek Bailey, and Milford Graves,[1] although he generally performed solo. He was married to the author Izumi Suzuki, and a cousin to singer Kyu Sakamoto. He was portrayed in Kōji Wakamatsu's fil…