Paris, Tokyo: Nobuyuki Nakajima

In the last episode in the series Paris, Tokyo, we meet pianist, arranger and composer Nobuyuki Nakajima. This internationally-renowned artist has just settled in Paris to work with singer Jane Birkin.

The gentleness of his interpretations and the elegance of his compositions have given him opportunities to compose music for Japanese films and popular television series, such as the historical drama ‘Yae no Sakura’, the 52nd NHK taiga drama, which was nominated for the 42nd International Emmy Awards. His first album ‘ETE, Palma’ was released in 2006, and since then, the pianist has recorded five more albums in the studio.

It was April 2011, just after Japan was struck by an earthquake and a tsunami, when Nakajima met Jane Birkin. He took part in the ‘Together for Japan’ concert that Birkin had organised to support the victims of the disasters. This marked the beginning of a collaboration and a friendship between the two artists, who then headed out on the road for the tour entitled ‘Jane Birkin sings Serge Gainsbourg’, which concluded in 2013. Their latest project, the album ‘Birkin/Gainsbourg: Le Symphonique’, for which Nobuyuki put the arrangements together, led to another worldwide tour which has just come to an end.