West Coast Cool
* Ha-Za-Ma: Wasting Time (16.0 mb)
From Live At Yukotopia : Aug 13th, 2000 : Tokyo, Japan
I remember one of my first experiences seeing Japanese psychedelic band Ghost, live was in Maine, in a little hole-in-the-wall tavern. Ghost, for the tour, consisted of Masaki Batoh (the lead dude) and Michio Kurihara (lead guitar player). They were touring with Damon & Naomi and the whole shebang totally blew me away. But what I remember most is the lead guitar work by Michio Kurihara. He had an incredible sense of guitar style, with this guitar tone that was to die for. He somehow managed to convey that ’60’s-’70’s west coast psychedelic vibe perfectly, while still adding his own flourishes. Here’s his attempt at describing his guitar stylings:
My current guitar style is something which kind of developed naturally. So there’s no point I can say that this is when it began. The first time I heard Cipollina’s guitar was on Quicksilver’s second album, Happy Trails, which I think I bought when I was twenty. The first couple of times I heard it, it didn’t make much of an impression on me, but then the more I listened to it the more I began to see how amazing he was. Then I went out and bought Quicksilver’s first album, and that just totally knocked me out. Just the beauty and the sexuality of his guitar, and his use of space and timing, they’re all superlative. He’s one guitarist who is truly worthy of respect. I think that my current style is made up of elements from Cipollina and all the other great guitarists of the past which I have naturally absorbed and digested. But either way, I think that my playing is still developing. I want to keep on applying myself and studying so that I can play better, get better sounds out of the guitar. (Ptolemaic Terrascope)
Ever since then, I’ve been a huge fan of his, seeking out anything and everything that he’s involved in. So, you can imagine just how excited I was to track down this live recording of one of a group he’s involved with, called Ha-Za-Ma. This is twin guitar, bass, drum music at its best.
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I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving time.
