Kenichiro Nishihara (西原健一郎) is a Japanese producer with a yen for jazz and hip-hop. But in his capacity as a keyboardist, he also shows a keen ear for incorporating a little classicism into 2008’s Humming Jazz . And while it might be just a big lightweight for your average hip-hopper, it’s an interesting detour nonetheless.
Kicking off with a samba-meets-jungle-lite “Nebulosa,” Humming Jazz is constantly switching gears from piano-based, house-inflected hip-hop (“Heart”) to straight-ahead R&B (“Rain Falls”) to jazz shuffle (“Step Out”).
For more information, visit his MySpace page. |
