Kazumi Watanabe feat. Jeff Berlin & Bill Bruford: Lim-Poo. (The ’Spice Of Life’ Japan Tour, 1987)

I was in Japan a lot in the 80’s and 90’s - sometimes twice a year - until the Japanese economy fell off a cliff in the mid-90s. It was a wonderful country to work in, and its people gracious and deferential to a fault. But the Japanese music scene had little to no critical thinking as we would recognise it in the west, so album and concert reviews and interviews never let you know what anyone thought of the music. This clip was captured on a Japan tour with guitarist, composer and producer Kazumi Watanabe and bassist Jeff Berlin in 1987. Musicians typically work as a leader, with a leader, for a leader, or without a leader. With Kazumi, Jeff and I were employees required to provide, to the best of our ability, what the leader thought would make him sound good. Nothing wrong with that at all – it’s what most drummers do most of the time, and it’s a very clear power structure. Working ’for’ someone is at its best when you’re all but working ’with’ him: suggestions are requested and