Kazumi Watanabe
Japanese jazz guitarist, composer, producer and University visiting professor (1953-)
Kazumi Watanabe (Japanese: 渡辺 香津美, Hepburn: Watanabe Kazumi; born October 14, 1953 in Tokyo) is a Japanese guitarist. Other guitarists such as Luke Takamura and Sugizo have cited him as an influence.
Career
Watanabe learned guitar at the age of 12 from Sadanori Nakamure at the Yamaha Music School 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, and recorded the album Kylyn. During that year, he toured with the pop band Yellow Magic Orchestra.
In the 1980s, he toured as guest soloist with Steps, the Brecker Brothers, and Word of Mouth, led by Jaco Pastorius. Watanabe created the jazz-rock/jazz-fusion band Mobo in 1983 with Mitsuru Sawamura (saxophone), Ichiko Hashimoto (piano), Gregg Lee (bass), Shuichi Murakami (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 and bassist Jeff Berlin, who also played on the record.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Kazumi Watanabe” is japanese jazz guitarist, composer, producer and University visiting professor (1953-). The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Kazumi, Watanabe and Japanese, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “japanese jazz guitarist, composer, producer and University visiting professor (1953-)” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 21, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1396833. VIAF identifies the subject as 111732107. The Library of Congress control number is n87828169. 4 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1953, 1971, 1979 and 1983.
A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.
- Establishing names and roles
- Building a first chronology
- Locating cited institutions
Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Kazumi Watanabe”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Kazumi Watanabe primary sources, Kazumi Watanabe archive and Kazumi research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Kazumi Watanabe”?
- Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
- Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Kazumi Watanabe” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.