As an arena-filling pop artist, Senri Oe was living the dream in his native Japan — but at one point, it was no longer hisdream. So, 18 years ago, at the age of 47, the pianist and composer moved to New York and enrolled at The New School, where he studied with jazz artists such as Junior Mance and Aaron Goldberg. Oe began developing a style that blended his various musical passions, which he’s continued to refine over a series of albums during the past decade and a half. The Brooklyn-based artist describes his latest release, Homework, as “a soundtrack for a cinema without visuals.” Its mood captures feelings of loss and loneliness — Oe’s beloved dachshund, Peace, had recently passed away when he wrote much of the material — as well as the excitement and challenges of living in New York, as he and his trio mates alternate among acoustic and electric instrumentation and straightahead jazz and more pop-leaning iterations. The sprightly “Stormy Day” splits the difference, as Oe’s twinkling electric keyboards and the buoyant rhythms provided by bassist Matt Clohesy and drummer Ross Pederson belie the real and metaphorical imagery suggested by the title. That’s not to say it’s all sunshine and rainbows — Oe’s playing is quite nuanced as he balances conflicting emotions — but in balance, the song sounds more hopeful than morose. Having endured the pandemic lockdown that darkened so many of the city’s jazz venues, and the loss of his father several years ago, Oe has grown more philosophical, more determined to express various aspects of his musical personality. “The overwhelming sense of loss stripped away all need for pretension,” he says. “It made me look more directly at the meaning of my life — where I am now, and where I’m heading.”
