Ohishi is a lyrical player, infusing his melodic touch with musical emotion and composing songs that fit well with the stylish rhythms from his French bandmates, favoring a deep groove and subtle rock rhythms over swing jazz beats.

The pianist’s compositions include the emotional ballad “Ambition”, the mysterious and alluring “Hisyô”, the uptempo and modern “Riverside”, and graceful smoothness on “All Because of You”, throughout which Ohishi conveys strong impressions that his music arises from deep and contemplative places. His song “Memories of Paris”, perhaps a nod to his trio mates, also features Ohishi playing pianica and piano simultaneously along with bassist Viret, where the whistling reed of the keyboard instrument invokes accordion-like sounds familiar to French settings.

In addition to the original numbers, a cover of the jazz standard “Softly, As In A Morning Sunrise” is painted as a languid fantasy, and a stirring solo piano version of Billy Joel’s “Honesty” wraps up the album with soulful outpouring as Ohishi wrings powerful emotion out of the keys of the piano.

Audio and Video

• A different version of the Manabu Ohishi Trio with the album “Nebula”:

• Excerpt from track #2: “Hisyo[^]”

Ohishi’s strength as a romantic melodist is evident as the opening notes from the piano sound, heavy with sentimentality. His vibrant improvisations often unspool with passion, as if he is pushing notes out physically from the piano, squeezing out as much expression and emotion as possible.

Another moving feature is Ohishi’s lovely reharmonization of popular standards, here with “My Foolish Heart” and “What A Wonderful World”, adding alluring deepness to these ballads.

Audio and Video

• A version of Ohishi’s song “Continuous Rain”:

• Excerpt from track #1: “I’m Yours”