Man In The Mirror (Cover)

Kent Nishimura's guitar arrangement of Man in the Mirror by the great late Michael Jackson was a tribute, that on its own, stood its ground in this moment of musical history. The intricacies of this arrangement are beyond what a few paragraphs can describe, but a good short summary of it would be: unbelievable sense of time and groove, a keen and precise attention to detail, and absolute musical fluency with the acoustic guitar.

This arrangement begins with something spectacular already, with the intro featuring nail taps on the guitar top that create an incredible rim shot effect; paired with the harmonics that emphasize the strong high end melody. The verses and choruses demonstrate and incredible ability to only play the things that are true to the song. Ever bass drum effect made by the wrist and ever snare tap using the thumb are accurate representations of the groove and synergy of the original track. Kent's attention to detail in this arrangement is also immaculate in the way that he gets down to the smallest thing like planting his index on the D or G string for a split second to slightly mute the extra frequencies coming out of those strings.

Kent is a 19 year old boy whose potential is endless. He selects timeless songs that resonate with so many people and he's able to bring them to heights previously unimagined. A good quote to summarize his abilities would be one by the great Tommy Emmanuel: "Kent is by far the best musician I've heard in many years..."