ReMix:Mega Man 3 "The Jazzassin" 3:48

I know, I know... it's like a jazz assassin. Still, I keep reading "jazz ass" no matter how hard I try not to...

Nostalvania (Markus) turns his attentions to the blue bomber with this snappy jazz quartet arrangement of "Shadow Man" that's cool as a cucumber:

"Hi, OCR! "Shadow Man" was the song I used when I made my first remix back in 2011. Now, four years later, I decided to remix it again, and this time it actually sounds good, or at least better. For this remix, I only used 4 instruments: Acoustic piano (lead instrument), e-piano (comping), upright bass, and drums. As for the arrangement, I changed the time signature to 5/8 (Intro, A,C) and 6/8 (B), and also reharmonized practically the whole thing, especially the B section.

Source breakdown:

0:00-0:24 - Intro bassline (5/8)
0.24-0:47 - A
0:47-1:09 - Intro bassline
1:09-1:36 - B (6/8 swing)
1:36-1:47 - A (back to 5/8)
1:47-2:42 - Piano solo
2:42-3:03 - C (drum breaks)
3:03-3:06 - Transition
3:06-3:17 - Intro bassline
3:17-3:29 - B (6/8 swing)
3:29-3:52 - Outro and ending"

Very smart, tight arranging that nevertheless feels natural & comfortable, with a brush kit groove that shuffles along and EP offsetting the piano quite nicely; Liontamer writes:

"Check out them time signature changes; nice job here! Reducing the tempo for "Shadow Man's Stage" is not something I assumed would work this well, but never count out the VGM arrangement community. :-) I'd love to hear Nostalvania arrange other energetic source tunes per this smoother, slower spin on "Shadow Man," because you know HE would make it all click.

Just soloing at its effortless best from 1:44-2:38; nice section there. On the production front, this is also Markus's most polished OCR piece so far; all of the parts sound pretty realistic and have good body to them, so congrats on stepping up the sound quality (particularly for the piano) and allowing this excellent arrangement to shine!"

I like how the ride pattern drops out & comes back in, giving a little lift to the drums when it does... really sweet cymbal work in general, and not only are the keys on point, but the bass tags along for the ride and accents a lot of the hits. The whole enchilada has a precision, swagger, and syncopation to it that's rather killer, delivering on the title. Because assassin. Not jazz ass. But that too, if you want... Brilliant stuff from Markus that ups his own ante & nails the vision of the arrangement with crisp production & pointed performances!