Kenichiro Nishihara

Kenichiro Nishihara (?????) 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 bit 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?).

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 official website, unprivate acoustics.