I went to see Eiji Kadota and his trio “Yellow Funky Stuff” at the Riverside Music Cafe by Taipower in Gongguan last Friday night. He is head and shoulders above any other electric guitarist, whether local or foreign, who regularly plays in Taiwan today (I’ve seen most or all of them). If you enjoy hearing someone play the f**k out of an electric guitar with skill and passion, you should definitely check him out. He plays a mix of covers and originals, and his style echoes Jeff Beck, Wayne Krantz. For the show on Friday, he did two sets, the first on acoustic guitar (but still rocking out), the second electric (on which he really shines). He chooses his covers well, avoiding the overdone Hendrix/Stevie-Ray Vaughn/Clapton warhorses that most of the technically decent electric guitarsits around town play ad nauseum as if there were nothing else in jazz or rock to draw on. He is Japanese, but is a long-time resident of Taipei and teaches guitar. (In another thread Battlepanda said that he studies from him.)
Sounds cool, post if you hear of him playing please!
Eiji can wail most surely and succinctly. I’d like to have a tenth of his musicianship.
I would like to check him out. When you mention Wayne Krantz in the same sentence with anyone you know they must be good.
Does he have any stuff online? I am always open to check out new players anywhere.
[quote=“Gifthorse”]I would like to check him out. When you mention Wayne Krantz in the same sentence with anyone you know they must be good.
Does he have any stuff online? I am always open to check out new players anywhere.[/quote]
Actually, I may have been stretching a bit with the Wayne Krantz reference (I love Krantz’s “2 Drink Minimum” – haven’t really followed what he has done since), but Eiji is well worth checking out. You can find a couple of Youtube clips of him by searching under his Japanese name (門田英司 – just cut and paste the characters), but the Youtube clips don’t really do him justice (different band lineup and more conventional approach compared to what I saw him doing at the Riverside). I’ll post again here the next time I see that his band is playing around town somewhere. Incidentally, Eiji’s drummer is also a harmonica player and it is him blowing on the soundtrack of the recent Taiwan hit movie Cape No. 7.
Gifthorse – if you line up any gigs yourself, let us know as well so we can come check out your playing. The Riverside music cafe (www.riverside.com.tw) where I saw Eiji is owned by a jazz guitarist named Geddy Lin who you might want to get to know, as he could probably introduce you to some other musicians around town (I’m not a musician by the way, I just enjoy good live music).
I did a search for his English name last night and found a website with his gear and what not. It only had 1 song playing but he sounded like he could play.
Thats interesting you aren’t a musician and you like Wayne Krantz. Thats a first, I mean usually ‘eggheads’ like his stuff. The term egghead referring to someone who is a heavy jazz or fusion head who like bebop and gets really technical with music.
I don’t have any of Wayne’s albums but I did see alot of clips of him playing on a Steeley Dan tour he did about 12 years ago. Also I have heard alot of clips from his website. He is no doubt one of the great electric improvisors on this planet. So many talented players everywhere really. I am from Detroit and I lived in Royal Oak across from a bar called Memphis Smoke. I swear on any given night of the week I could walk across and listen to a great player to some degree.
Detroit is full of amazing players of all styles, as are most cities. I always appreciate any style done well. I must say I get a bit bored by standard SRV type players. You know the ilk. There are just too many standard guitar blues guys. Just keep in mind, the way alot of blues players approach it on guitar is 1 dimensional. I prefer the way people approach it on piano to guitar because they work around chords more and don’t just stay in a pentatonic box in 1 tonal center the whole time.
I don’t mix it up much in Gifthorse because I really think for our style it takes away more than it adds because we are more about the vocals and songwriting. I would love to have more shred time, but it always seemed to just sound like wankage. I admire bands that can incorporate that stuff gracefully.
There is a band in Detroit called the Reefermen with guitarist Bobby East. He played bass with Kid Rock for a spell. He is one of my favorites in Detroit, AWESOME player who can delve into many styles. I also like a guy named Bradford Johnson, who I consider to be one of the best lead guitarists in the world. Unsurpassed tone and feel in his hands. You would love his style. Plus he is a great singer.
I like that guy’s tone you posted about, very smooth–not too gainy. Alot of players hide behind too much distortion, and use it as a crutch. Its always nice to hear someone with real tone in thier hands.
[quote=“Gifthorse”]
Thats interesting you aren’t a musician and you like Wayne Krantz. Thats a first, I mean usually ‘eggheads’ like his stuff. The term egghead referring to someone who is a heavy jazz or fusion head who like bebop and gets really technical with music.
…
Detroit is full of amazing players of all styles, as are most cities. I always appreciate any style done well. I must say I get a bit bored by standard SRV type players. You know the ilk. There are just too many standard guitar blues guys. Just keep in mind, the way alot of blues players approach it on guitar is 1 dimensional. I prefer the way people approach it on piano to guitar because they work around chords more and don’t just stay in a pentatonic box in 1 tonal center the whole time.
I don’t mix it up much in Gifthorse because I really think for our style it takes away more than it adds because we are more about the vocals and songwriting. I would love to have more shred time, but it always seemed to just sound like wankage. I admire bands that can incorporate that stuff gracefully.
There is a band in Detroit called the Reefermen with guitarist Bobby East. He played bass with Kid Rock for a spell. He is one of my favorites in Detroit, AWESOME player who can delve into many styles. I also like a guy named Bradford Johnson, who I consider to be one of the best lead guitarists in the world. Unsurpassed tone and feel in his hands. You would love his style. Plus he is a great singer.
I like that guy’s tone you posted about, very smooth–not too gainy. Alot of players hide behind too much distortion, and use it as a crutch. Its always nice to hear someone with real tone in their hands.[/quote]
I grew up mostly around Chicago so I started listening to the electric blues when I was in high school and still enjoy it, but as you say it can start sounding one dimensional pretty quickly. I also used to go to shows by some of the more “outside” jazz players in Chicago (the AACM and Art Ensemble guys if you’re familiar with them), and really got into that, but missed hearing the electric guitar (guitar players aren’t as prominent in the Chicago jazz scene as in the blues scene). So I started looking around for recordings of interesting jazz/fusion guitar music, and that’s how I got into guys like Wayne Krantz. Some of the other guitarists I enjoy are Marc Ribot, Shawn Lane (now deceased – his stuff with Jonas Helborg in particular), and recently I’ve been checking out Gary Lucas (who lived in Taiwan for a couple of years when he was younger).
One thing I miss here in Taipei is the range of live music we had back home. There’s a growing music scene here, but you really have to keep your ear to the ground to avoid missing interesting shows – unlike Chicago (or Detroit or New York or other major cities in the US), where you have some cool shows to choose from most nights of the week. But I’m optimistic, and try to encourage people like you who played back home to play here if you have the desire. I’ll check out some of the guitarists you mention – thanks for the leads – and will look for clips of your band (I’m posting this at my office after work and a couple of my colleagues are still at it so I can’t disturb them by cranking youtube clips, but will check them out later).
(Edit: Since I’m encouraging you to play music here, it occurs to me that I should add the caveat that if you do so, you should be a little careful about where and under what circumstances, since technically speaking it is illegal for a foreigner to perform here for pay without a work permit. Once you’ve met some other foreign musicians here they will be able to fill you in on the details of this and how to avoid hassles. A lot of foreigners play here without trouble, but every once in a while you hear a horror story of a foreign musician getting busted for working illegally – and sometimes what constitutes “working” can be a little fuzzy.)
Which reminds me – the Muddy Basin Ramblers (or some of them at least) will be playing at the Taipei Artists Village on Sunday evening following an afternoon workshop. The Dana Wylie band will be paying too, as will the Tribe of West Africa.
[quote=“Rotalsnart”][quote=“Gifthorse”]
Thats interesting you aren’t a musician and you like Wayne Krantz. Thats a first, I mean usually ‘eggheads’ like his stuff. The term egghead referring to someone who is a heavy jazz or fusion head who like bebop and gets really technical with music.
…
Detroit is full of amazing players of all styles, as are most cities. I always appreciate any style done well. I must say I get a bit bored by standard SRV type players. You know the ilk. There are just too many standard guitar blues guys. Just keep in mind, the way alot of blues players approach it on guitar is 1 dimensional. I prefer the way people approach it on piano to guitar because they work around chords more and don’t just stay in a pentatonic box in 1 tonal center the whole time.
I don’t mix it up much in Gifthorse because I really think for our style it takes away more than it adds because we are more about the vocals and songwriting. I would love to have more shred time, but it always seemed to just sound like wankage. I admire bands that can incorporate that stuff gracefully.
There is a band in Detroit called the Reefermen with guitarist Bobby East. He played bass with Kid Rock for a spell. He is one of my favorites in Detroit, AWESOME player who can delve into many styles. I also like a guy named Bradford Johnson, who I consider to be one of the best lead guitarists in the world. Unsurpassed tone and feel in his hands. You would love his style. Plus he is a great singer.
I like that guy’s tone you posted about, very smooth–not too gainy. Alot of players hide behind too much distortion, and use it as a crutch. Its always nice to hear someone with real tone in their hands.[/quote]
I grew up mostly around Chicago so I started listening to the electric blues when I was in high school and still enjoy it, but as you say it can start sounding one dimensional pretty quickly. I also used to go to shows by some of the more “outside” jazz players in Chicago (the AACM and Art Ensemble guys if you’re familiar with them), and really got into that, but missed hearing the electric guitar (guitar players aren’t as prominent in the Chicago jazz scene as in the blues scene). So I started looking around for recordings of interesting jazz/fusion guitar music, and that’s how I got into guys like Wayne Krantz. Some of the other guitarists I enjoy are Marc Ribot, Shawn Lane (now deceased – his stuff with Jonas Helborg in particular), and recently I’ve been checking out Gary Lucas (who lived in Taiwan for a couple of years when he was younger).
One thing I miss here in Taipei is the range of live music we had back home. There’s a growing music scene here, but you really have to keep your ear to the ground to avoid missing interesting shows – unlike Chicago (or Detroit or New York or other major cities in the US), where you have some cool shows to choose from most nights of the week. But I’m optimistic, and try to encourage people like you who played back home to play here if you have the desire. I’ll check out some of the guitarists you mention – thanks for the leads – and will look for clips of your band (I’m posting this at my office after work and a couple of my colleagues are still at it so I can’t disturb them by cranking youtube clips, but will check them out later).
(Edit: Since I’m encouraging you to play music here, it occurs to me that I should add the caveat that if you do so, you should be a little careful about where and under what circumstances, since technically speaking it is illegal for a foreigner to perform here for pay without a work permit. Once you’ve met some other foreign musicians here they will be able to fill you in on the details of this and how to avoid hassles. A lot of foreigners play here without trouble, but every once in a while you hear a horror story of a foreign musician getting busted for working illegally – and sometimes what constitutes “working” can be a little fuzzy.)[/quote]
Hey if you want to check out my band we have music at 2 sites
flagshipmile.dmusic.com/ (unfinished business is my guitar solo on the CD), and a new one Senses Real.
myspace.com/gifthorse
We do have 1 Youtube video for a song Get a Life of us jamming acoustically in my singer’s basement through the board.
[quote=“Gifthorse”]
Hey if you want to check out my band we have music at 2 sites
flagshipmile.dmusic.com/ (unfinished business is my guitar solo on the CD), and a new one Senses Real.
myspace.com/gifthorse
We do have 1 Youtube video for a song Get a Life of us jamming acoustically in my singer’s basement through the board.[/quote]
Good stuff. I’m hoping to drop by the Artists Village on Sunday for the Ramblers gig, so maybe will see you there.
Wow, I just saw another amazing (and I don’t say that lightly) rock guitarist at the Riverside last night – Mike Mclaughlin. He’s an eight year resident of Taipei and makes his living as a professional session guitarist for many of the big local musicians in Taiwan, but only recently started playing his own gigs here. He was formerly lead guitarist of the Criss band in the United States. He says he hopes to do more local gigs of his own stuff in the future. Last night was about 70 percent originals written by him and the other band members, plus a few covers (including Zeppellin “Moby Dick”, some Jaco Pastorius featuring virtuosic bass player Brian Chiu, and Hendrix’s “Voodoo Chile” – not your typical Hendrix knock-off but a hard-core shred version that for a moment seemed to peel back the fabric of “(if I don’t see you anymore in) this world” to the “next world (and don’t be late)”…or it could have been the whisky on top of the Taiwan beer…either way, it worked. The originals were all good, some great, and all rocked.
Mike’s playing and his stage presence reminded me a bit of Mike McCready of Pearl Jam, except that he covers more ground stylistically.
If you enjoy rock/blues/fusion guitar, catch one of his gigs! I guarantee you’ll feel like you’ve been taken to the “school of rock.”
Okay, the guitarist I was talking about in the OP, Eiji Kadota, is playing again at the Riverside Music Cafe this Friday night (Feb. 20) at 9:30 p.m. (NT$400 cover, it’s the old Riverside in the basement by the Taipower building on Roosevelt) with his trio. I highly recommend checking him out if you enjoy live instrumental guitar (see my description in the OP).
The Riverside:
riverside.com.tw/cafe/news.htm#20
damn saturday night
Temp Gain, the show is Friday night (tonight), not Saturday night. Come check it out.