Before Mastermind left to tour Japan my good friend and concert organizer Hiroshi Masuda asked if I would like to jam with some Japanese fusion musicians while I was in Tokyo. I agreed enthusiastically. We exchanged a few emails and worked out a repertoire; some Mahavishnu, Jeff Beck, Miles, a Soh Band piece, and some Mastermind cuts... I figured we should have something to play agreed upon in advance since it was to be a public performance. Some of these things I hadn't played since I was much younger, so the night before we departed for Japan I ran over some of the Miles & Mahavishnu riffs we had decided upon to be sure I remembered them.

When the day came I arrived at the Flight in Fuchu, a small cellar club in Tokyo, late in the afternoon and made my greetings. Everyone was nice enough, but not too fluent in English (and I spoke about 3 words in Japanese). Music is the universal language right? The Soh guys had the stuff charted and were obviously somewhat prepared, while I on the other hand had listened to the tracks maybe twice with guitar in hand and was going on pure luck and instinct. This was gonna be interesting...

To make a long story short, we played once thru the set in the afternoon and hit the stage at about 10PM. Exchanging hardly a word, we had a deep sense of communication going on which was an amazing experience. Despite a few panic attacks and some problems with borrowed gear, I had a truly wonderful time! So here for my Net acquaintances, by request, are two Mahavishnu tracks from the recording we made that night. It's raw, spontaneous, and under rehearsed, but I think it has its moments and captures the enthusiasm we all felt sharing a common musical experience. If you enjoy it half as much as I enjoyed jamming it out, you should find the inner gems easily.

Meeting of the Spirits (mp3)   (© J. McLaughlin)   7:45 - 2.22MB

Birds of Fire (mp3)   (© J. McLaughlin)   8:02 - 2.30MB

The technical details - Flight in Fuchu is a jazz/avant-guarde music venue that is at once both a live stage and a semi-controlled recording environment. These tracks were recorded and mixed in real time to direct DAT. There are no overdubs, punch-ins or repairs (obviously). This is 100% no turning back live. With some minor editing I have prepared a full 68 minute album from the DAT and hope one day to see it released as a commercial CD. Until then enjoy the wonder of Mp3 (encoded at 40Kb/s 22KHz stereo). There is little to no audience sound because everything was close-mic'ed, the edits are tight, and also because Japanese listeners are a very reserved lot.

[left to right]
Suji Soh - Drums
Bill Berends - Guitar
Tatsuya "Chernobyl" Watanabe - Keyboards
Masaki Shimizu - Fretless Bass

Recorded live at  FLIGHT IN FUCHU  Tokyo, Japan

© Bill Berends. All rights reserved.

Be sure to check out The Soh Band if given the chance.
(this was "the Soh Band Trio" because their guitarist refused to be involved <g>)

Sadly, since this day Suji ended his own life.... rest in peace my friend.