is a Japanese guitarist. Other guitarists such as

Luke Takamura is a Japanese musician, singer, and songwriter. He is best known as guitarist of the heavy metal band Seikima-II from 1987 to 1999, and for various temporary reunions since. From 2002 to 2020, he was the lead singer and guitarist of the rock ...

and

Sugizo , born and better known by his stage name Sugizo, is a Japanese musician, singer-songwriter, composer and record producer. He is best known as the lead guitarist and violinist of the rock band Luna Sea since 1989. Sugizo started his solo care ...

have cited him as an influence.

Career

Watanabe learned guitar at the age of 12 from Sadanori Nakamure at the

Yamaha Music School The Yamaha Music Foundation is an organization established in 1966 by the authority of the Japanese Ministry of Education for the purpose of promoting music education and music popularization. It continued a program of music classes begun by Yamah ...

in Tokyo. He released his first album in 1971. In 1979, he formed a jazz rock band with some of Japan's leading

studio musicians Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

, and recorded the album ''Kylyn''. During that year, he toured with the pop band

Yellow Magic Orchestra Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO for short) is a Japanese electronic music band formed in Tokyo in 1978 by Haruomi Hosono (bass, keyboards, vocals), Yukihiro Takahashi (drums, lead vocals) and Ryuichi Sakamoto (keyboards, vocals). The group is conside ...

. In the 1980s, he toured as guest soloist with Steps, the

Brecker Brothers The Brecker Brothers were a jazz fusion music duo consisting of siblings Michael Brecker, Michael and Randy Brecker, Randy. Michael played saxophone, flute, and EWI (musical instrument), EWI, and Randy played trumpet and flugelhorn. The brothers ...

, and

Word of Mouth Word of mouth, or ''viva voce'', is the passing of information from person to person using oral communication, which could be as simple as telling someone the time of day. Storytelling is a common form of word-of-mouth communication where one pe ...

, led by

Jaco Pastorius John Francis Anthony "Jaco" Pastorius III (; December 1, 1951 – September 21, 1987) was an American jazz bass guitar, bassist, composer and producer. He recorded albums as a solo artist and band leader and was a member of Weather Report from 1 ...

. Watanabe created the jazz-rock/jazz-fusion band Mobo in 1983 with Mitsuru Sawamura (saxophone), Ichiko Hashimoto (piano), Gregg Lee (bass),

Shuichi Murakami (January 1, 1951 – March 9, 2021) was a Japanese jazz drummer and session musician. Career Murakami was born in Nishinomiya. He first learned to play French horn, but switched to classical percussion as a teenager before settling on the ...

(drums), and Kiyohiko Senba. During the eighties Watanabe released the jazz-rock albums ''To Chi Ka'' (1980), ''Mobo Club'' (1983), ''Mobo Splash'' (1985), and ''Spice of Life'' (1987). A DVD was issued from the tour which featured drummer

Bill Bruford William Scott Bruford (born 17 May 1949) is an English former drummer and percussionist who first gained prominence as a founding member of the progressive rock band Yes. After leaving Yes in 1972, Bruford spent the rest of the 1970s recording ...

and bassist

Jeff Berlin Jeffrey Arthur Berlin (born January 17, 1953) is an American jazz fusion bassist. He first came to prominence in the 1970s as a member of the band Bruford led by drummer Bill Bruford. Musical career Berlin was born on January 17, 1953, in Queen ...

, who also played on the record. In the 1990s Kazumi assembled an all-Japanese line-up called Resonance Vox (Vagabonde Suzuki on bass, Rikiya Higashihara on drums, Yahiro Tomohiro on percussion). This band has released several adventurous fusion albums.

Discography

As leader

* ''Infinite'' (Express, 1971) * '' Endless Way'' (Columbia, 1975) * '' Monday Blues'' (RCA, 1976) * ''Milky Shade'' (Union, 1976) * '' Olive's Step'' (Better Days, 1977) * ''Guitar Work Shop'' (Flying Dog, 1977) * ''Lonesome Cat'' (Denon, 1978) * ''Kaleidoscope'' (Denon, 1978) * '' Mermaid Boulevard'' (Alfa, 1978) * '' Tokyo Joe'' (Denon, 1978) * ''Village in Bubbles'' (Better Days, 1978) * ''Kylyn'' (Better Days, 1979) * ''Kylyn Live'' (Better Days, 1979) * '' To Chi Ka'' (Better Days, 1980) * '' Dogatana'' (Denon, 1981) * ''Mobo'' (Domo, 1984) * ''Mobo I'' (Gramavision, 1984) * ''Mobo II'' (Gramavision, 1984) * ''Mobo Live'' (Domo, 1985) * ''Mobo Splash'' (Domo, 1985) * '' The Spice of Life'' (Domo, 1987) * '' The Spice of Life Too'' (Gramavision, 1988) * ''

Kilowatt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wa ...

'' (Gramavision, 1989) * ''Romanesque'' (Domo, 1990) * ''Pandora'' (Polydor, 1991) * ''Esprit'' (Domo, 1996) * ''Dandyism'' (Domo, 1998) * '' One for All'' (EmArcy, 1999) * ''Beyond the Infinite'' (Dozo, 2001) * ''Guitar Renaissance'' (EWE, 2003) * '' Mo' Bop II'' (East Works, 2004) * ''Guitar Renaissance II'' (EWE, 2005) * ''Guitar Renaissance III'' (EWE, 2006) * ''Kaihogen'' (Cube, 2006) * ''Guitar Renaissance IV'' (EWE, 2007) * ''Acoustic Flakes'' (EWE, 2009) * ''Jazz Impression'' (EWE, 2009) * ''Tricoroll'' (EWE, 2011) * ''Mo' Bop III'' (EWE, 2011) * ''Guitar Renaissance V'' (EWE, 2012) * ''Live at Iridium'' (EWE, 2012) * ''Spinning Globe'' (Warner, 2013) * ''En Vivo!'' (Victor, 2015) * ''Gracim'' (Warner, 2016) * ''Lotus Night'' (Warner, 2016)

As sideman

Jimmy Hopps James Edward Hopps Jr. (born 1939) is an American jazz drummer. Although he never recorded as a leader, he worked extensively with Roland Kirk, Charles Tolliver, Stanley Cowell, and Pharoah Sanders during some of their well known sessions. He also ...

, ''Mudari: Spirit of Song'' (Denon, 1977) *

Hideki Matsutake Hideki Matsutake (born August 12, 1951 in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan) is a Japanese composer, arranger, and computer programmer. He is known for his pioneering work in electronic music and particularly Programming (music), music progr ...

, ''Live Space Fantasy'' (For Life, 1978) *

, ''Word of Mouth Band 1983 Japan Tour'' (Rhino, 2012)

References

External links

Kazumi Watanabe Official SiteKazumi Watanabe 2016 English Interview on Innerviews
{{DEFAULTSORT:Watanabe, Kazumi 1953 births Living people Jazz fusion guitarists Japanese jazz guitarists Japanese session musicians Gramavision Records artists Columbia Records artists PolyGram artists