Senri Oe: Class of '88

Imagine a superstar musician, someone along the lines of Ed Sheeran perhaps. Then imagine him giving up his lifestyle and commercial success just to re-awaken his love for the jazz musicians of his youth. You may think that was a difficult story to believe, but with J-Pop superstar, Senri Oe, that is exactly what happened. With 45 hit singles, numerous albums and a TV career, he had achieved mega-star status in Japan and had the celebrity lifestyle to match. At the age of 47 and wanting to reconnect with his love of the music of Thelonious Monk and Bill Evans, he moved to New York City and enrolled at the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in an attempt to reinvent himself as a jazz pianist.

The move paid off, Oe is currently in his sixties and has released several jazz albums to date, with his eighth, Class of '88, being the first time he has looked to revisit and re-imagine his back catalogue of pop tunes. His approach involved not changing the original chords or melodies but adapting the harmonies and rhythmic elements. In addition to his back catalogue, he also includes three new compositions and is helped by the other members of his trio, bassist Matt Clohesy and drummer Ross Pederson.

The album opens with the gentle melody of "Apollo" and hits the mark straight off with Oe's piano supported by chattering drums from Pederson and a bass solo from Clohesy. "Bamboo Bamboo" originally featured pulses of electronic dance beats, here they are replaced by driving drums and bass interjections. The transition from '90s electronic music to acoustic instruments works well. One of Oe's major singles, "Glory Days," is played as a melodic solo piano piece in 5/4 and it is a pity that it ends so soon.

Of the three new compositions, "Poetic Justice" and "Class Notes" are solo piano pieces that show Oe's gentle deftness of touch. The mid-tempo Latin rhythms of "Lauro De Freitas" feature flowing piano and a bass break from Clohesy.

Elsewhere on the album, "Cosmopolitan" struggles to escape from the original chord structure into the jazz format with the soul funk rhythm being too predictable. That is not the case with "Stella's Cough" which is full of funky rhythms with Pederson taking full advantage of the opportunity to shine. The effervescent "Time-Bouncing Fish," swings with Oe's catchy piano melody. "I Wanna Live With You" was originally a ballad but is transformed by the Latin rhythm, scattering drums and bass break.

The album is likeable, accessible and engaging. Given the original source material, the sound and patterns are different from what one may find on many piano trio albums, perhaps more uncomplicated, perhaps unusual, but always melodic. The album shows just how far this jazz pianist has travelled along his curious career path; it would be fair to say he has arrived.