Jun 23 (Kyodo) - Veteran jazz saxophonist Nobuo Hara, whose band was at the forefront of Japanese jazz music for decades, died Monday due to pneumonia-induced respiratory failure, his family said Tuesday. He was 94.
Hara, whose real name was Nobuo Tsukahara, formed the jazz band Sharps and Flats in 1951. The band went on to achieve great popularity, with Hara leading it for more than half a century.