To all Kazumi fans around the world, Kazumi recently fell ill and is currently in critical condition. He is fighting for his life and his situation is very serious. We believe in his recovery. Please send your prayers for him to be able to play the guitar with his magical technique again.
People complaining about Kazumi seem to have no idea how different approach japanese jazz fusion is a genre. His playing style is really distinctive and captivating. Listen "To Chi Ka"-album. Full of great songs.
There are not enough superlatives to describe the sheer mastery these musicians display. They are from an era that I believe cannot be bettered in this genre.
the song around 10 min with the classic jeff berlin 16th note bassline. it's just sick. watanabe is on fire. berlin's solo is didactic, pedantic perfection...
Tremendo trio de tres, Watanabe es fantástico, Berlin hace un trabajo impecable y decir cualquier cosa acerca de Bruford sería redundar, él es un monstruo.
I finally stumbled onto this video Jan. 20, 2023. Obviously a lot of time has elapsed since this performance. This music is amazing as well as timeless!
l blame that dude for my collection of Steinberger guitars. My ex wife knew he was to blame and hated mobo. My Steiny's are still with me and appreciating like gold.
a lot of repetitive riffs that honestly got boring pretty quick .. however I listened because I used to have MOBO 1 on vinyl .... some of the best guitar work I've ever heard
Riffing itself bores me to tears. It’s a no effort path to making music. Why trouble oneself with melody, lyrics, songwriting. You know, the hard stuff.
Watanabe has also worked with many major Western musicians, including Jeff Berlin, Michael Brecker, Bill Bruford, Tony Levin, Marcus Miller, Mike Mainieri, Jaco Pastorius, Lee Ritenour, Asaf Sirkis, Wayne Shorter, Mike Stern, and Sly and Robbie-just to name a few. All have acknowledged Watanabe’s precision, focus and devotion to exploring myriad contexts and collaborations. “Kazumi is a master, for whom the art is to conceal the art,” said Bruford, who partnered with Watanabe on Spice of Life and Spice of Life 2, two late ‘80s jazz-rock albums that also featured Jeff Berlin. “His breadth of skills and depth of creativity remain under-played and under-recognized in the West, although not so in Japan.” Berlin is similarly enthusiastic. In addition to the Spice of Life albums, he worked with Watanabe on 2013’s Spinning Globe, a fusion trio release that also included drummer Virgil Donati. “Kazumi is Japan's greatest guitarist,” said Berlin. “He’s someone who can play anything and seemingly has no limits. Recording with Bill and Kazumi was great. We liked to rehearse a lot before we went into the studio to make the Spice of Life albums. We wrote songs and parts together and shared a fun time recording Kazumi's pieces. I was also very happy to play with him again on Spinning Globe. The compositions were excellent and once again reminded me how great Kazumi’s talents are. He also has one of the best sets of ears of any musician I know.”
Considering this recent interview quote from Bruford - “I feel enormously privileged. I’ve never really played anything I didn’t want to play... I feel like at the end of an era really - being able to play exactly what I liked, wherever and with whom I wanted.” - and the fact that he took part in multiple studio and live projects with Watanabe, I would infer the answer to your question to be, "not in the slightest".
@@kevgamble Perhaps so. Nevertheless, this is pretty lame stuff. Even legendary players are not immune to fallow periods. If I were him, on reflection years later, this would not be a good memory, musically speaking. He may have had a really great time on the road. Touring can be addictive.
@@kevgamble “Lame stuff” was not pointed at Bill in any way whatsoever! I’m referring to the project which I understand to be Kazumi Watanabe’s. It’s very difficult for me to see Bill’s towering talent wasting away backing Kazumi’s bizarrely amateurish thing. My comments express real sadness for Bill, and should mean nothing to him if he’s happy. He has my greatest respect for past work, and my complete indulgence for what I termed ‘fallow period.’ All the greats experience that to differing degrees and it always makes me genuinely sad. I’ve been very fortunate to spend my entire life on the road with amazingly gifted artists, and I’m accustomed to treating them as colleagues. That would’ve ended long ago in complete failure if I decided to hurt the feelings of those I respect. You inferred things I definitely did not intend.
Как возбуждается публика в зале! Словно на сцене, по меньшей мере, пол-ягодицы самого Allan Holdsworth! Боже, какое убожество с участием Bill Bruford...(((
Terrible guitar tone. Very flat, compressed high distortion for a super sustained sound. It’s just not a musical sound. Bill is playing almost completely straight 4/4 with snare on 2 and 4. I feel like Jeff is the most creative in this music. They all can play at the top of the game but most of this stuff is just repetitive chords that open it up to play about anything and have it work.
A little harsh. May not be everybody’s cup of tea, but the ensemble definitely displays a stellar level of musicianship. I will say that Watanabe’s guitar would’ve sounded better in the mix if it had been been recorded in stereo with a bit of separation.
I'm not feeling this at all. To me, Watanabe was a merely competent player, who accidentally somehow stumbled into the high society of music and got to play with the best of the best. Way out of his league. His tone and choice of notes does nothing to me at all.
@@kennykaufman8263 No clue. Maybe because he's a name in Japan and playing with him gives access to bigger Japanese venues. Appreciative audience, good pay. Musicians gotta eat too. Listen, I'm not saying he sucks. He's good. But that rhythm section could be jamming with Holdsworth, Gambale, Metheney, MacLaughlin and that kind of caliber player. And to my ears. and that's a subjective opinion, I know, he's just not that interesting. This show got old, fast, to my ears.