Jonah Yano

Jonah Yano is a singer-songwriter who works in a jazz-centric intersection between alternative R&B and folk, who often sings in a gentle style, typically with sparse instrumentation, letting his voice handle the emotional shadings of his songs. He ventures into the world of funky grooves and auto-tuned vocals every now and then, but his core continues to be his delicately stated emotional ballads that walk the line between R&B and jazz. He moved in a more overtly jazzy direction in his 2023 album portrait of a dog, while still bringing some of the ambient background and an occasional broken beat into his music. His 2022 song "shoes" is a collaboration with his father, Tatsuya Muraoka, reflecting on their reunion after 15 years.