Search - Kazumi Watanabe :: Spice of Life

Great music!

khris777 | Texas USA | 06/29/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I also highly reccomend this album. I have not had a copy in quite a while now but I am about to shell out the bucks to get this great looking release of it. If you like Bruford's fusion stuff, Bill Conners, Holdsworth, etc, please do yourself a favor and pick this up. I saw Kazumi live at the Houston Intl festival years ago. He played his entire set on an acoustic guitar and it was absolutely fantastic.



Which also brings me to another point. I agree with the previous reviewer that Spice Of Life Too is a lighter less adventurous release, however I still have it and listen to it to hold me over until I get Spice Of Life. Anyway, I do not agree that it is boring and would also highly reccomend it, after you get this one though."

A masterpiece of Fusion for the'80s and today!!!

D. Gorman "Crystalline Structure M | 12/27/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This album features the power trio of K. Watanabe on all guitars & guitar synths, fantastic bassist Jeff Berlin and Bill Bruford who was the drummer for the classic rock band Yes. By the time Kazumi Watanabe expanded beyond jazz to join the fusion movement, it was the '80s and fusion had all but died in The States. It was a pure delight to see this man keep fusion alive with a mixture of rock, the hard-driving beats and rythms of the '80s which kept the music current in its time and updated the sound that had once been the property of the '70s..........and of course, the jazz influence is solid throughout this recording. Watanabe is a tremendous guitar talent who is too often overlooked. His blistering hot guitar work shines with a knowledge of American culture while he slips in a definite Japanese flavor in his music........sometimes subtle, sometimes blatant. An incredible album!!! On a scale of 1-5 stars, this album deserves 10 stars!!! I also agree with other reviewers that the sequel album "Spice of Life Too" was a weak and disappointing follow-up to this supurb album. I haven't bothered to pick it up on CD, because even with the addition of a keyboardist, the music was uninspired and lackluster.......worth 3 stars at best........but again, THIS album, the ORIGINAL "Spice of Life" deserves 10 stars on a scale of 1-5 stars!!! An excellent piece of work!!!





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