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 found himself in the unique position of recontextualizing his own pop music as if it were jazz standards.

Senri Oe: piano

Matt Clohesy: acoustic bass

Ross Pederson: drums

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