Larry Carlton + Tak Matsumoto = New Album!
Tak Matsumoto News Apparently this has been around for some time, and it has not been officially announced yet, however, we do have a source to confirm it: WBA Entertainment Inc.
For those who don’t know Larry Carlton, he’s an American jazz fusion, pop, rock guitarist and a singer. Throughout his career he’s earned 3 Grammy awards for his works.
And here’s what they write in the announcement:
Larry Carlton & Tak Matsumoto
Recording a new album together in September 2009
Touring together in 2010 & 2011
Carlton’s melodic yet aggressive approach to writing and playing on this CD blended with Tak’s proven ability to write and perform Hit songs make for a unique Guitar experience. Drawing upon their knowledge and different music backgrounds Larry & Tak have forged Eastern and Western guitar styles to create a truly magical and unique album unlike any other. The best of East and West!
[…]
Source: http://www.wba-ent.com/LarryCarlton/ONESHEET_Larry_Carlton_and_Tak_Matsumoto.pdf
Now, in February 2010 Larry Carlton announced, that the projects with Robben Ford, with Keb Mo, with Tak Matsumoto and his album honoring Gamble & Huff’s Sounds of Philadelphia (T.S.O.P) are already completed or in their final stages of completion.
Press release here: http://www.wba-ent.com/Press/LC100218_Larry_Carlton_Fourplay_PressRelease.pdf
Last but not least, here’s a performance by Larry Carlton:
Tak Matsumoto featured in Kine Naoto’s New Album
Tak Matsumoto News Kine Naoto has been famous in the 80’s with the band TM Network, which he also founded together with Komuro Tetsuya and Utsunomiya Takashi in 1983. Tak Matsumoto also used to support TM Network with his guitar skills by producing some songs that involved an electric guitar.
To no surprise it seems that Kine Naoto has been keeping in touch with Tak ever since. So now Tak has collaborated with an old friend from the pre-B’z days, and it’s going to be track number #6 on the new album “Chuo-Line”(that’s a train line in Tokyo) by Kine Naoto. According to his official site, it’s going to be a folk-style album.
The title of the song Tak is collaborating on is “Mitaka Blues”. One can imagine that it’s no surprise that Tak is called in for a blues session on the spot.
The album will be out April 7th, 2010 and will be priced at 3060 Yen.
Epiphone Announces The Release Of New ‘Epiphone Tak Matsumoto DC Custom’
Tak Matsumoto News Japan’s most famous guitarist, and beloved guitarist of B’z, Tak Matsumoto, has finished creating just another new guitar(after introducing the new Gibson Tak Matsumoto DC Custom models), but this time it’s for Epiphone, which is part of Gibson, just that Epiphone’s guitars aim for customers with lower budgets.
The “Epiphone Tak Matsumoto DC Custom” will go on sale exclusively in Japan on December 25th, 2009 and will be priced at 122,850 Yen (about $1100).
Taken from Epiphone’s Website:
Epiphone Announces the Release of the New Epiphone “Tak Matsumoto Signature DC Custom”Coming Out On Christmas Day Exclusively in Japan
Tokyo, Japan-December 18, 2009. Leading guitar maker Epiphone announces the release of the new “Epiphone Tak Matsumoto Signature DC Custom” available exclusively in Japan on December 25th 2009. Tak Matsumoto is one of the Japan’s leading guitarists and a member of the popular rock band B’z.
[…]
New Stevie Salas Album ft. Tak Matsumoto: Tracklisting Revealed
Tak Matsumoto News It’s about time the tracklisting for “SET IT ON BLAST” gets revealed as the album is going to be released in Japan on July 15th.
Before I reveal the tracklisting to you, though, I got news for our fellow europeans: Stevie Salas is coming back to Europe in September to rock the stage! Furthermore, his album “Be What It Is” is going to be released in Europe at the end of June. People from Germany can already pre-order it here at Amazon Germany. The release date seems to be June 26.
Now, on to the good stuff! Here’s the tracklisting:
“SET IT ON BLAST”
Release: July 15, 2009
01. GET YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR
02. NISHI GIRL
03. BLOCK ROCKIN (FEATURING TAK MATSUMOTO)
04. OMG
05. FORGIVE AND REMEMBER
06. THE UPRISE (FEATURING GANDHI)
07. WARMTH OF THE SUN
08. ROCK THE HOUSE
09. I’M NOT LOOKING BACK
10. OLDER THAN AMERICA
11. TWO SOULS WAR’N IN A BAG OF SKIN (LIVE FROM ARBOR LIVE CANADA)
Price: 2500 Yen
Pre-order here:
YesAsia (US)
YesAsia(Global)
CDJapan.co.jp
Tak’s Music on New Stevie Salas album
Tak Matsumoto News According to a news update on Stevie Salas’ Official Website, Tak Matsumoto(among others) is participating in Stevie Salas’ new album “Set it on blast”.
I was recording my brand new cd called ‘set it on blast’ right up to 1 hour before I got on the plane to europe to start this tour… Talk about tight!!! This cd is well funky with brian tichy, matt sorum, tm stevens, steve faronne, joey heredia, dorian heartsong, jara slapbak, bernard fowler, dan rothchild, gandhi, tak matsamoto from the bz japan and a few other cool friends.
This is not unusual as Koshi Inaba has been recording some songs with Stevie Salas in the past, too. For example the English version of “Shoumen Shototsu” called “Head on Collision” which is featured on Stevie Salas’ album “Be What It Is”(Amazon.com). Furthermore, Koshi Inaba is featured in Stevie Salas’ essential collection called “the sun and the earth”(Amazon.com). There, he plays the harp on the song “Pumpin’ It Up”.
There has been no word on an overseas release date, but the album will be released in Japan on July 15th, 2009.
If you wanna grab a copy, you can pre-order it here:
Tak Brings Dark Fire to Japan
Tak Matsumoto News 
Gibson has long been the mainstay guitar manufacturer, and its Les Paul design has become an icon that represents guitarists in all arenas of music. Naturally, when an innovation as foreboding as the “Robot Guitar” was introduced last fall, Gibson was once again heralded as the leader in the field.
A guitar capable of tuning itself and maintaining a full set of customizable tones had already shaken the industry one year ago. With the capabilities of some studios coming standard in a guitar alone, it’s no wonder that Gibson has decided to rise to the occasion once again.
And they have, with the introduction of the second version of the Robot Guitar: Dark Fire. Of course, given that this is a worldwide launch, Gibson Japan had to bring out their biggest star to introduce their newest product.
Naturally, it wouldn’t be much of an event without Gibson Japan’s sponsored and famed virtuoso. Appearing on stage alongside Gibson Guitar CEO and Chairman Henry Juszkiewicz was legendary guitarist and songwriter Tak Matsumoto. (more…)
