Kazumi Watanabe

Biography

Kazumi Watanabe is a Japanese jazz-fusion guitarist from Tokyo who debuted as a teenager with 'Infinite' (1971). Albums such as 'To Chi Ka' (1980) and 'The Spice of Life' (1987), the latter with *Bill Bruford* and *Jeff Berlin*, made him one of Japan's most internationally respected instrumentalists. His discography runs to dozens of albums across five decades, moving between fusion, acoustic jazz and traditional Japanese material, and he remains a first-call collaborator for visiting musicians in Japan.