Truth In Shredding: Kazumi Watanabe

Showing posts with label Kazumi Watanabe. Show all posts

Kazumi Watanabe, Bill Bruford, Jeff Berlin: Live Concert "Spice of Life"

Kazumi Watanabe, Bill Bruford, Jeff Berlin Live Concert "Spice of Life"

Bill Bruford, Kazumi Watanabe: - Hiper K (Kazumi Watanabe, The Spice Of Life, 1987)

This continues a short selection of tracks from a trio I was in with my old friend from my late-70s band Bruford, Jeff Berlin, on bass, and new friend Kazumi Watanabe on guitar and leading the band, live in Japan.

There’s stuff in my performance here that I’m not at all in love with. The problem lies with my (mis?)-interpretation of the music. There are two snare drum sounds, both with very different colours and musical weight – I use the Simmons SDS9 until the ascending melody of the bridge at 0’46”, and then an acoustic snare. The acoustic snare comes in and its immediately too loud, but that’s not the house engineer’s fault, it’s because I played it that way.

Then, for some dumb reason, I made no change for the bass solo at 1’00”. That was a golden opportunity that went begging – the song could have opened out with quieter cymbals and looser playing at that point. Would have added an extra dimension to it. The electronic snare would then have been perfect for the return of the vamp at 1’24”, and finally moving to the loud acoustic at 1’35”, when Kazumi goes to the power chords and the whole thing steps up a gear. Now I know how it should have been done. Too late, too late! Well, maybe the house engineer could have helped a bit…

These are the fine details that the best guys get right all the time, not just much of the time. ‘Reading’ or interpreting a newish piece of music correctly and immediately – I don’t mean the notes, I mean its shape and its intentions – is a real skill born of experience, and this could have been better.

I love the ride-out with that cool semi-tone step down in the bass at 4’47”. It’s not on the album track so I guess Jeff pulled it out of the bag that night.

Didn’t mean this to be a music lesson, but a little detailed analysis of one’s own playing never does any harm. Hope you enjoy the track! See you next week.

Bill Bruford - Hiper K (Kazumi Watanabe, The Spice Of Life, 1987)

Kazumi Watanabe: feat. Jeff Berlin & Bill Bruford: Lim-Poo. (The 'Spice Of Life' Japan Tour, 1987)

Kazumi Watanabe feat. Jeff Berlin Bill Bruford: Lim-Poo. (The 'Spice Of Life' Japan Tour, 1987)

Bill Bruford, Kazumi Watanabe, Jeff Berlin: UNT (Kazumi Watanabe, The Spice Of Life, 1987)

I think titles are important when it comes to instrumental music, so I’m surprised and sorry I didn’t ask this track’s composer, Japanese guitarist Kazumi Watanabe, what UNT meant, or stood for. I haven’t a clue what was running through his mind when he wrote it or named it, and that’s often helpful in deciding how to play it. I’ve written a little about my time with Kazumi in other video descriptions on this channel (see ‘Lim-Poo’, or a ‘drum solo’ from the Spice of Life tour), so I have little to add on this song from the same tour, other than how young and healthy everyone looks. Spare a thought for those musicians who are not so lucky, the men and women who are not on stage, silenced, invisible, and who would so like to be there.

The hazards surrounding musical instrument practice are many and varied. Painful musculo-skeletal issues include overuse injuries and hand and finger problems. Many drummers are particularly concerned with hearing loss and carpal tunnel syndrome, the drummer’s version of writer’s cramp. Musicians’ careers are threatened when they can no longer play their instrument because of pain and dysfunction. The difference between 95% recovery of an injured finger and 100% recovery may mean the difference between a world-class career and obscurity.

Musicians’ lifestyles can have significant impact on well-being and mental health. Financial security and sporadic work patterns are surely significant sources of stress, but the greatest pressure comes from maintaining standards of playing to a level that meets the musician’s own ideals. General well-being comes from a sense of direct control over right work, with observable (or audible) outcomes. The psychology of performance ‘wellness’ suggests that greatest performer happiness lies in those areas that welcome personal expressive input and which give the performer a sense of control over their own performance.

One music performance counsellor I know says that the least frequent visitor to his consulting rooms is the jazz performer, which he surmises is because the jazz performer typically exercises the greatest control over the performance, and is thus able to inject something of him- or herself in to it. His most frequent visitor, by genre, is the classical musician. We might generalize that the more choice and control individuals are able to exercise within their practice, the less likely it is to make them ill. Happily, I don’t think I ever missed berlia gig in my life.

Bill Bruford - UNT (Kazumi Watanabe, The Spice Of Life, 1987)

Kazumi Watanabe, Jeff Berlin, Horacio Hernandez: Moscow, Alexey Kozlov's Club 16.04.13

Moscow, Alexey Kozlov's Club 16.04.13 http://kozlovclub.ru http://livemusic.pro

Track List

1 Mo'bop (Kazumi Watanabe)

2 Shang-Hai (Kazumi Watanebe)

3 Algorithm (Kazumi Watanabe)

4 Havana (Koko Tanikawa)

5 Body & Soul

6 Impressions (John Coltrane)

7 Unicorn (Kazumi Watanabe)

8 Tears in Heaven (Eric Clapton)

9 Manhattan flu dance (Kazumi Watanabe) encore

10 The Chicken (Alfred "Pee Wee" Ellis)

11 Giant Steps John Coltrane) Ken Fumon

Kazumi Watanabe, Jeff Berlin, Horacio «El Negro» Hernandez

Kazumi Watanabe,Jeff Berlin,Virgil Donati: Spinning Globe (Import)

Kazumi Watanabe,Jeff Berlin,Virgil Donati: Spinning Globe (Import)
Kazumi Watanabe (Guitar); Jeff Berlin (Bass); Virgil Donati (Drums)
Brand New Release from Japanese Guitarist Kazumi Watanabe. Known for his fiery playing and great albums over the years, this new one features the great Jeff Berlin on Bass and Virgil Donati on Drums.
Kazumi learned to play guitar from Sadanori Nakamure, one of Japan's grandmaster guitarists. Kazumi released his first recording in 1971, and quickly became a promising guitarist in his own right. In 1979, he formed an all-star band with some of Japan's leading studio musicians, and recorded the album Kylyn, which is considered a masterpiece in fusion music.
During the eighties Watanabe released a considerable number of jazz-rock albums. To Chi Ka (1980), with its funk influences and bright sound, is probably the most famous early title. Some latter albums, such as Mobo Club (1983) and Mobo Splash (1985) display more experimental tendencies. But the most famous of all is Spice of Life (1987) which is done in a strongly melodic style. A DVD has been issued from the tour in which the music was played with drummer Bill Bruford and bassist Jeff Berlin (who also play on the studio record). In the 1990s Kazumi assembled an all-Japanese line-up called Resonance Vox (Vagabonde Suzuki on bass, Rikiya Higahihara on drums, Tomohiro Yahiro on percussion). This band has released several adventurous fusion albums.
Watanabe has worked with numerous musicians such as Steve Gadd, Tony Levin, Jeff Berlin, Bill Bruford, Sly and Robbie, Wayne Shorter, Patrick Moraz, Marcus Miller, Richard Bona, and Peter Erskine. Since 1996, he has been a visiting professor of music at Senzoku Gakuen College. He endorses Steinberger and Paul Reed Smith guitars, and has been chosen Best Jazzman 24 years in a row by Swing Journal's annual poll.

Track 1 Spinning Globe
Track 2 Secret Of Tokyo
Track 3 Duress Code
Track 4 Owed To Joy
Track 5 The User
Track 6 Reflection Of Paris
Track 7 Kokoro
Track 8 I Will
Track 9 JFK

Tetsuo Sakurai,Kazumi Watanabe: Jaco Tribute Band - It's A Jaco Time

Tetsuo Sakurai,Kazumi Watanabe: It's A Jaco Time

Tetsuo Sakurai Jaco Tribute Band/Kazumi Watanabe: It's A Jaco Time

Tetsuo Sakurai (Bass); Toshiyuki Honda (Sax); Gene Jackson (Drums); Kazumi Watanabe (Guitar); Kenichiro Shinzawa (Piano); Yuya Komoguchi (Guitar)

SKU SKU26000
Track 1 Invitation
Track 2 Liberty City
Track 3 Three Views of a Secret
Track 4 Cha Cha
Track 5 Palladium
Track 6 Las Olas
Track 7 Continuum
Track 8 Portrait Of Tracy
Track 9 River People
Track 10 Havana

Kazumi Watanabe,Jeff Berlin,Virgil Donati: snippet of what you'll at the live show.

Apologies I missed the start of this short tour/

Virgil Donati will be out with Kazumi Watanabe and Jeff Berlin later this month:

November 15th & 16th, 2013 - Jakarta Blues Festival
November 18th, 2013 - Tokyo, Japan - Blue Note Tokyo
November 19th, 2013 - Nagoya, Japan - Bottom Line
November 20th, 2013 - Osaka, Japan - Billboard
November 21st, 2013 - Fukuoka, Japan - Gate's

http://buff.ly/178sH4p

KAZUMI WATANABE × JEFF BERLIN × VIRGIL DONATI

KAZUMI WATANABE × JEFF BERLIN × VIRGIL DONATI

Ron Thal,Kazumi Watanabe,Jeff Berlin,Virgil Donati: Jakarta Blues Festival - headliners for the November festival

Jakarta Blues Festival Tickets Available @ Sekretariat Inablues, Daily Concert, Ina Concert

Line up Jakarta BLues Festival are Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal, Trio Virgil Donati - Kazumi Watanabe - Jeff Berlin

Pree Sale IDR 100,000 (Until 9 November 2013)
Regular IDR 200,000

Get Your Tickets Now|

Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal (GNR) Nov. 16, 2013 - Djarum Jakarta Blues Festival 2013

Kazumi Watanabe,Janek Gwizdala: Live at the Iridium CD

Kazumi Watanabe: Live at the Iridium

Kazumi Watanabe: Live at the Iridium (Import)
Kazumi Watanabe (guitar); Janek Gwizdala (bass); Obed Calvaire (drums)
Watanabe was invited in 2011 by the New York club Iridium to play there as part of the "Legendary Jazz Fusion Guitarists" series. Watanabe began a search for younger bassist and drummer based in the US who would bring fresh ideas and energy, and chose Janek Gwizdala, originally from England, and Obed Calvaire who's played with Wynton Marsalis, Mike Stern and the Clayton Brothers, among others. Material for this exciting CD was taken from the three-day gig at The Iridium in October, 2011. Although they have never played together before, the superbly talented trio musicians apparently had a great rapport and "clicked" with one another. Whether playing well-known jazz musicians' compositions or Watanabe's own tunes, they burn red hot with intensity and thrilling interplay. Beautifully mastered and pressed on Blu-spec CD (Sony's high quality CD format that is compatible with all CD players), this CD will also impress audiophiles. Recommended! Recorded live at The Iridium, New York City, on October 15 and 16, 2011. Blu-spec CD is compatible with all CD players. The CD package includes an English liner notes.

Track 1 All Blues (LISTEN TO AUDIO)
Track 2 Moments-Notice
Track 3 The Sidewinder
Track 4 Impressions (LISTEN TO AUDIO)
Track 5 Cry Me A River
Track 6 Returns swallow Enshu (LISTEN TO AUDIO)
Track 7 Manhattan Flu Dance
Track 8 Unicorn

Kazumi Watanabe: Unicorn solo

It is a really good guitarist. The word is for him a genius

Kazumi Watanabe: Unicorn solo

Kazumi Watanabe & Yosuke Yamashita cycle dish dance

Kazumi Watanabe: Tricoroll new CD

Kazumi Watanabe: Tricoroll

Kazumi Watanabe (guitar); Janek Gwizdala (bass); Obed Calvaire, Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez (drums)
2012 Release. New release from phenomenal Japanese guitarist Kazumi Watanabe. After the series of fantastic musical statements with the Mo Bop Trio, Kazumi returns in the same electric format with Janek Gwizdala on bass and Obed Calvaire and Horacio 'El Negro' Hernandez on drums.
This record is surely to become one of the best releases of the year.

http://www.abstractlogix.com/xcart/product.php?productid=25399

Track 1 Shang-Hai (LISTEN TO AUDIO)
Track 2 Metabolism (LISTEN TO AUDIO)
Track 3 Rydeen (LISTEN TO AUDIO)
Track 4 Algorithm (LISTEN TO AUDIO)
Track 5 Sea Dream (LISTEN TO AUDIO)
Track 6 Perfect Water (LISTEN TO AUDIO)
Track 7 The Sidewinder (LISTEN TO AUDIO)
Track 8 Azimuth (LISTEN TO AUDIO)
Track 9 Moment's Notice (LISTEN TO AUDIO)

Kazumi Watanabe: Live at the Iridium

Watch live streaming video from iridiumlive at livestream.com

Kazumi Watanabe: Trio Rehearsal Shows

Kazumi Watanabe Trio Rehearsal Shows Tonight to Sunday and Momnday Kazumi with The Les Paul

Kazumi Watanabe,Noel Floyd: I've Got A Woman

Kazumi Watanabe, Japanese jazz guitarist, meets Noel Floyd "Nokie" Edwards, a very popular lead guitarist of the Ventures during '60s, '70s amd '80s. Both of them play enjoyable R&B Classic, "I've Got A Woman", one of Nokie's favorite tunes in the guitar sessions at TV Studio, Tokyo.