I first heard Nujabes while watching episodes of Samurai Champloo with my husband. Instantly, we were captivated with this anime series. The art, graphics, story, animation, and music made for an overall, enticing composition. While doing some background research on the show and its contributors, he found out about Nujabes; artist of the background music and soundtrack for the series.

Nujabes is a DJ and producer from Japan who samples many American jazz and underground hip hop artists, as well as Japanese artists. We explored the albums beyond the Samurai Champloo soundtrack and found them to be just as attractive through their relaxing and soulful grooves. Immediately, we added them to our collection and even dedicated one, Reflection Eternal, to our first born.

Much of Nujabes music is a fusion of Jazz, Hip Hop, and occasional trance. Beats are repetitive and most often the vocals consist of poetic rap but can also be purely instrumental. Wikipedia: “Nujabes’s (Nooh-jah-behs) genre-blending music style is known for a distinct cool jazz and soul influence. He most typically uses samples from artists such as Miles Davis, Pat Metheny, and Yusef Lateef and adds live instrumentation, such as flutes, acoustic guitar, piano, and saxophone to create warm, mellow tracks.”

It is difficult to select a couple of samples of Nujabes music to encompass the variety that is reflected through the fused sound. About Samurai Champloo.


MUSIC FROM MODAL SOUL


MUSIC FROM METAPHORICAL MUSIC

MUSIC FROM SAMURAI CHAMPLOO


Photo from Human Potential