Senri Oe

Jazz Pianist & Composer

“Pop meets jazz-jazz meets pop.”

Senri Oe’s new album, CLASS OF ‘88 tour in Denver!

All songs composed by Senri Oe, with recordings featuring:

Senri Oe (piano)

Matt Clohesy (acoustic bass)

Ross Pederson (drums)

Senri Oe Trio new album release tour in Denver. Ever wondered what would happen if Justin Timberlake suddenly fell under the spell of Bud Powell? That’s essentially what happened fifteen years ago, when J-Pop superstar Senri Oe decided to give up his celebrity life in Japan and he moved to New York City at 47, enrolled at the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, and reinvented himself as a jazz pianist.

With seven jazz albums to his name since his 2012 re-debut Boys Mature Slow, Senri Oe had tried not to look back – until now. On his latest album, Class of ’88, Oe comes full circle with a piano trio album revisiting several of his classic pop hits, featuring bassist Matt Clohesy and drummer Ross Pederson at once a surprising look back and a brilliant look at how far the pop star-turned-piano virtuoso has come. 

Though Senri Oe has left his pop past behind (“No more dancing!” he declares with a laugh), the 62-year-old pianist has never forsaken his songs from that era. With Class of ’88 he reopened his '80s treasure box and finds himself in the unique position of recontextualizing his own pop music as if they were jazz standards.