今田勝 (jazz pianist)

Masaru Imada (今田勝, Imada Masaru; 21 March 1932 – 30 May 2025) was a Japanese jazz pianist and composer. Imada was born in Tokyo on 21 March 1932. He had classical piano lessons. He played jazz in student bands while a student at Meiji University, after which he worked in business for a year. He then decided to pursue music professionally. From 1953 he was part of clarinetist Eiji Kitamura's band. Imada had his own trio from 1964. He formed Now'in, a fusion band, in 1984. He played internationally at jazz festivals from the 1970s. An asterisk (*) after the year indicates that it is the year of release. "今田勝|ニュース&インフォメーション|JAZZ | ディスクユニオン･オンラインショップ" [Masaru Imada | News & Information | JAZZ | Disk Union Online Shop] (in Japanese). diskunion.net. Retrieved 31 July 2025. "日本を代表するジャズ・ピアニスト，今田勝が93歳で永眠". Jaz.in (in Japanese). 2 June 2025. Retrieved 31 July 2025. Sugiyama, Kazunori, Imada, Masaru, Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press, retrieved 1 February 2015