Senri Oe

Building upon his decades of success as a Japanese pop star, Senri Oe has made a surprising stylistic transition with albums that showcase his skills a jazz pianist. From the '80s through the '90s, Oe released a series of Top 40 pop albums, scoring hits like "Wallabee Shoes" and "10 People, 10 Colors" and taking home awards including the 1989 Gold Disc Award for Best Male Pop Artist. A late-career choice to earn his jazz degree from New York's the New School found Oe shifting gears, releasing a string of highly regarded jazz piano albums, including 2012's Boys Mature Slow, 2013's Spooky Hotel, and 2016's Grammy-nominated Answer July. He revisited his pop hits on 2018's Boys & Girls, showcased his trio on 2019's Hmmm, and explored '70s-style fusion on 2021's Letter to N.Y.