On October 19, 2025, Anthony Claiborne Jackson died aged 73. He was musician (electric bass, contrabass, guitar), bassist, regarded as “one of the masters of the instrument”. He performed live in more than 30 countries and recorded in more than 3000 sessions on more than 500 albums, with Al Di Meola, Billy Paul, Carlos Garnett, Roberta Flack, Patti Austin, Alex Bugnon, Michel Camilo, Jorge Dalto, Mandoki Soulmates, Will Downing, Carlos Franzetti, Jun Fukamachi, Eric Gale, Terumasa Hino, Garland Jeffreys, Chaka Khan, Steve Khan, Tania Maria, Harvey Mason, Michel Petrucciani, Buddy Rich, Lee Ritenour, Mike Stern, Hiromi Uehara, Grover Washington Jr., Monty Alexander, Peter Allen, Gabriela Anders, Ashford & Simpson, Fahir Atakoglu, Anita Baker, Bob Baldwin, Gato Barbieri, Thereza Bazar, Jim Beard, Bee Gees, George Benson, Warren Bernhardt, Randy Bernsen, Rory Block, Perry Botkin Jr., Ralph Bowen, Till Brönner, Peabo Bryson, Jimmy Buffett, Dina Carroll, Dennis Chambers, Sandeep Chowta, John Clark, Norman Connors, Chick Corea, Hank Crawford, Randy Crawford, Lou Courtney, Eddie Daniels, Michael Davis, Rainy Davis, Eumir Deodato, Devonsquare, Paul Dresher, Ned Rothenberg, Gene Dunlap, Eliane Elias, Pee Wee Ellis, Jon Faddis, Donald Fagen, Joe Farrell, Rachelle Ferrell, Barry Finnerty, Sonny Fortune, Hiroshi Fukumura, Four Tops, Henry Gaffney, Carlos Garnett, Stephane Grappelli, Urbie Green, Michael Gregory, Dave Grusin, Kit Hain, Delores Hall, Lionel Hampton, Gene Harris, Takehiro Honda, Lena Horne, Miki Howard, Bobbi Humphrey, Phyllis Hyman, Masaru Imada, Freddie Jackson, Joe Jackson, Rebbie Jackson, Al Jarreau, Quincy Jones, Ryo Kawasaki, Earl Klugh, Kahoru Kohiruimaki, Wayne Krantz, Bireli Lagrene, Yusef Lateef, Webster Lewis, Dave Liebman, Reggie Lucas, Ralph MacDonald, Teo Macero, Madonna, Teena Marie, Sleepy Matsumoto, Maureen McGovern, Sergio Mendes, Pat Metheny, Bette Midler, Barry Miles, Russell Morris, Gerry Mulligan, Milton Nascimento, David “Fathead” Newman, Maxine Nightingale, Claude Nougaro, The O’Jays, Jeffrey Osborne, Phil Perry, Peter, Paul & Mary, Esther Phillips, Simon Phillips, Noel Pointer, Jesse Rae, Ernest Ranglin, Lou Rawls, Jess Roden, Diana Ross, Ray Russell, Sam & Dave, David Sanborn, Arturo Sandoval, Alejandro Sanz, Lalo Schifrin, Helen Schneider, John Scofield, John Sebastian, Doc Severinsen, Carly Simon, Edward Simon, Paul Simon, Simon & Garfunkel, Kathy Sledge, Lonnie Liston Smith, Steve Smith, Phoebe Snow, Bert Sommer, David Spinozza, Steely Dan, Jeremy Steig, Charles Sullivan, Ximo Tebar, Nino Tempo, John Tropea, Michal Urbaniak, Dave Valentin, Luther Vandross, Harold Vick, Roch Voisine, Martha Wash, Kazumi Watanabe, Sadao Watanabe, Frank Weber, Dave Weckl, James D-Train Williams, Vanessa Williams, Nancy Wilson, Bernie Worrell and Akiko Yano. As co – leader Jackson released three albums.
Tag Archives: Kazumi Watanabe
Wayne Shorter
On March 2, 2023, Wayne Shorter died aged 89. He was musician (saxophone) and composer. He was member of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers and Miles Davis’s Second Great Quintet, and then co-founded the band Weather Report. Many of the Shorter’s compositions have become jazz standards and his work earned critical praise worldwide. In 1970, he won “Down Beat’s” annual poll-winner, winning the critics’ poll for 10 consecutive years and the readers’ poll for 18 consecutive years. Shorter recorded and performed with Donald Byrd, Billy Childs, Pino Daniele, Lou Donaldson, Benny Golson, Gil Evans, Toninho Horta, Norah Jones, J. J. Johnson, Don Henley, Wynton Kelly, Michael Landau, Lionel Loueke, Grachan Moncur III, Milton Nascimento, Michel Petrucciani, The Rolling Stones, Masahiko Satoh, John Scofield, Esperanza Spalding, Steely Dan, Bobby Timmons, Kazumi Watanabe, Buster Williams, Herbie Hacock, Tony Williams, Joe Zawinul, Freddie Hubbard, Joni Mitchell, Lee Morgan, Jaco Pastorius, Carlos Santana and McCoy Tyner. In 2008, “The New York Times” described Shorter as “probably jazz’s greatest living small-group composer and a contender for greatest living improviser”. In 2017, he was awarded the “Polar Music Prize”. As leader, Shorter released 28 albums.
Ryuichi Sakamoto: Thousand Knives

On October 25, 1978, “Nippon Columbia” label released “Thousand Knives”, the debut Ryuichi Sakamoto album. It was recorded April – July 1978, at “Columbia Studios 1, 2 and 4” in Tokyo, and was produced by Ryuichi Sakamoto.
Personnel:
- Ryuichi Sakamoto – synthesizer (Moog III-C with Roland MC-8 Microcomposer, Polymoog, Minimoog, Micromoog, Oberheim Eight Voice Polyphonic with Digital Programmer, ARP Odyssey, KORG PS-3100 Polyphonic), vocoder (Korg VC-10), analog sequencer (KORG SQ-10), Syn-Drums, piano, marimba, orchestration, liner notes
- Hideki Matsutake – computer operation, synthesizer programming assistance
- Harry Hosono – zill, liner notes
- Motoya Hamaguchi – Syn-Drum solo, Brazilian bird whistles
- Kazumi Watanabe – Alembic guitar, rhythm
- Yūji Takahashi – piano
- Tatsuro Yamashita – castanets
- Pecker – Syn-Drum solo
- Satoshi “Sign” Saitoh – design
- Makoto Iida – cover photo
- Hikaru Hayashi – liner notes
Track listing:
All tracks by Ryuichi Sakamoto.
- Thousand Knives
- Island of Woods
- Grasshoppers
- Das Neue Japanische Elektronische Volkslied
- Plastic Bamboo
- The End of Asia
Kazumi Watanabe: One for All

On June 16, 1999, “Polydor Japan” released “One for All”, the 28th Kazumi Watanabe album. It was recorded in March 1999, at “The Bottom Line” in New York City, and was produced by Koko Tanikawa and Kazumi Watanabe.
Personnel:
- Kazumi Watanabe – guitars, arranger
- Larry Coryell – guitar
- Akiko Yano – piano, arranger
- Mike Mainieri – vibraphone, arranger
- John Patitucci – bass
- Mino Cinelu – drums
- Koko Tanikawa – arranger
- Doug Epstein – recording, mixing
- Billy Eric, Tom Filogomo – engineer assistant
- Greg Calbi – mastering
- Yutaka Katayama – artwork director
- Toshifumi Kusano – photography
- Hiromi Saeki – coordination
Track listing:
- Havana – Koko Tanikawa
- Water Ways Flow Backward Again – Akiko Yano
- Libertango – Ástor Piazzolla
- Somewhere – Leonard Bernstein
- Afro Blue – Mongo Santamaria
- One for All – Kazumi Watanabe
- Milestones – Miles Davis
CAB: Same
On March 7, 2000, “Tone Center” label released the self-titled, debut CAB album. It was recorded in 1999, at “B&W Studios” in Woodland Hills” and “MI Studios” in Hollywood, Los Angeles, and was produced by Bunny Brunel.
Personnel:
- Bunny Brunel– keyboard, bass, engineer, mixing
- Tony MacAlpine– guitar, keyboard
- Dennis Chambers– drums
- Brian Auger– organ
- Barry Rudolph – engineer, mixing
- Dallan Beck – engineer
Track listing:
All tracks by Bunny Brunel, except where noted.
- Night Splash
- CAB
- So There Is Love – Tony MacAlpine
- Just Perfect
- One for Stern
- The Watcher – Tony MacAlpine
- Atamanashi – Bunny Brunel, Kazumi Watanabe
- Boogie Me
- Elastic Man – Tony MacAlpine
- Bernard
