Norio Maeda

Norio Nobuhito Maeda (December 6, 1934 – November 25, 2018 Osaka Prefecture) was a Japanese jazz composer and pianist. Maeda learned piano as a young child, and moved to Tokyo to play and arrange jazz professionally in 1955.There he played with Shungo Sawada's ensemble and founded a group called the Wind Breakers.He joined the West Liners, led by Konosuke Saijo, as a pianist and arranger in 1959.Known as a composer, he penned pieces for The Blue Coats, Tatsuya Takahashi, Nobuo Hara, and Toshiyuki Miyama.He also founded We 3 with Yasuo Arakawa and Takeshi Inomata, and later worked with Inomata again in a trio with Sadanori Nakamure.