Kazumi Watanabe

Kazumi Watanabe (Japanese渡 辺 香 津 美, Kazumi Watanabe, born October 14, 1953 in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan) is a Japanese guitarist and bandleader of the jazz fusion. He was elected twenty-four times in a row in the annual poll of swing Magazine as " Best Jazz Musician ".

Life and work

Watanabe, with a passion for rock music as a child, studied at the Yamaha Music School in Tokyo in 1971 and took his recording debut on. Subsequently, he also played with Sadao Watanabe. In 1979 he founded with musicians such as Ryuichi Sakamoto, Akiko Yano, Yukihiro Takahashi, Yasuaki Shimizu, Toshiyuki Honda and Shuichi " Ponta " Murakami Kylyn the band, which left a deep impression on the Japanese scene. In the autumn of the same year he participated in the successful world tour of the Yellow Magic Orchestra part .. In 1983 he formed his band mobo; then he worked with Bill Bruford and Jeff Berlin and played the powerful albums The Spice of Life and The Spice of Life Too one. During the 1980s he continued to collaborate with Western musicians like Tony Levin, Mike Mainieri, Sly and Robbie, Wayne Shorter, Patrick Moraz, Marcus Miller, Richard Bona, and Peter Erskine. He also was involved in productions of Eddie Gomez, Nobuyoshi Ino, Kazutoki Umezu, Mike Mainieri, Steps Ahead, Ryuichi Sakamoto and Jamaaladeen Tacuma.

Kazumi Watanabe has released more than thirty albums under his own name as well as some DVDs. He plays on instruments of Steinberger and Paul Reed Smith and " combines technically perfect with high-energy game and great creativity. "

Discography (selection)

  • To Chi Ka (1980, with Kenny Kirkland, Mike Mainieri, Warren Bernhardt )
  • Mobo Club (1983 )
  • Mobo 1 (1984 )
  • Mobo Splash ( 1985), with Michael Brecker and Dave Sanborn
  • The Spice of Life ( 1987)
  • The Spice of Life Too ( 1988)
  • KW (1989)
  • Pandora (1991 )
  • Oyatsu (1994)
  • Tokyo Joe (1996 )
  • One for All (1999)
  • Guitar Renaissance ( 2003)
  • Mo'Bop (2003)

Lexigraphic entries

  • Wolf Kampmann: Reclam Jazz Encyclopedia. Stuttgart, Reclam, 2003; ISBN 978-3150105283
Sadao Watanabe (musician) Integrated Authority File
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