Jo Odagiri can act... but can he sing?

by Chris MaGee

Jo Odagiri is an award-winning actor having taken home two Japanese Academy Awards (Newcomer of the Year in 2003 for "Azumi" and Best Supporting Actor in 2004 for "Blood and Bones"), he's become a huge box office draw across Asia, he's a heartthrob, has quickly stolen the moniker of "Japan's Johnny Depp" from Tadanobu Asano... but can he sing? In an off shoot of our semi-regular feature of actors-turned-singers and/ or singers-turned-actors (check out the first two installments here and here) I thought that I would post this single, "Cherry and the Dust Man" by none other than Odagiri himself. Shaking your head in disbelief? So was I, but apparently the star has released two albums, the first "t" in 2000 and the second, a double-disc titled "White" and "Black" in 2007.

For this single Odagiri is backed by the jazz/ swing/ punk band Katteni-Shiyagare and they're pretty funky, but the big question is whether or not Jo should give up his day job. I wouldn't recommend it, but you be the judge...