| Review by eletourn March 17, 2007 (1 of 1 found this review helpful)
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Kazumi Watanabe is a Japanese Fusion Jazz guitarist in the same vein as John McLaughlin, Al Di Meola and Larry Coryell. He has played with a plethora of guest musicians and this new trio is the latest incarnation of such collaboration featuring virtuoso players Richard Bona on bass & Horacio Hernandez on drums. The stereo SACD is one of the best sounding SACD in my collection. The 5.1 mix is somewhat of an oddball as only 4 of the 9 tracks have been mixed in Surround.
(See my review of the first album for more information).
Like the first album the majority of the tracks are uptempo or include many mood changes like “Dante’s Point” and “Death Valley” (which has a Hendrix “3rd stone from the sun” feel to it). Only “Cry Me A River” is more atmospheric and meditative providing for beautiful guitar subtleties (although the vox-box Frampton like effect in the middle might be a put off to some but it’s quite short). The selection of songs is comparable to the first album but seems to include slightly more guitar pyrotechnics. Both are very good but this one sounds a bit more derivative to my hears. If you like the genre I recommend all those SACD's if you can find them at a reasonable price.
KAZUMI WATANABE NEW ELECTRIC TRIO Mo' Bop II
(2004 Japanese only 9-track HYBRID CD
Supplied in a superb LP-style gatefold card wallet picture sleeve & complete with obi-strip).
Tracklisting / Additional Info:
1 Cleopatra’s Dream - 6:08
2 Blue Spiral - 7:43 *
3 Mystic Sand - 5:53
4 Mosaic Stone - 7:22 *
5 Dante’s Point - 10:10 *
6 Cry Me A River- 5:06
7 Death Valley - 8:22 *
8 Havana- 3:44
9 Favor Return of Ensyu Swallow - 5:06
* 5:1 Mixes Available on SACD portion
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