Kazuhito Yamashita Changed Everything, But Nobody Admits It.

I recently attendet a concert of his daughter Kanahi Yamashita in Berlin. She is a world class guitarist, but the circumstances were absolutely disappointing. She played in front of about thirty people in a shabby room in Spandau. The accoustics were okay, but you could not see anything in the third row. There was no introduction to her, even thought this was supposed to be a new series for concert guitar. The well known composer Carlo Domeniconi organized it, and he was there, but he did not introduce himself nor did somebody for him. So you would not know what the point of this new series would be. So Kanahi had to do everything on her own which she did okay, but I did not have the impression she was feeling comfortable. Also I did not see any of the better known guitarists who live in Berlin as I know. In the audience was the guitar builder Michael Batell who is perhaps the only person in Berlin who tries to support classical guitar in Berlin. The applause of the audience then was friendly, but I felt a big gap between the effort Kanahi is taking in her playing and her concept of contemporary guitar music and the reception under these circumstances. Perhaps you could do a video about what happened so classical guitar, when you remember that artist like Bream, Yepes, Williams and Yamashita would play before hundreds or even thousands of people and the situation day which I feel is often unworthy.

Years ago, my wife and I heard him play at a small venue in our home town in Iceland. In the small audience were virtually all of Iceland's respected classical, folk and rock guitarists. Their collective jaws were almost audible as they dropped to the floor. The program was a single work: Dvorak's New World Symphony in total. Not condensed, but the whole thing, all movements all aspects of the orchestra. He danced all over the guitar, quickly tuning and adjusting strings and strumming both sides of his left hand on the neck and near the tuning keys. Countless harmonics landed perfectly, extending the traditional range of the guitar to another level. Stunning! Then came an encore. We thought: maybe a charming adaptation of a chamber piece. What fools we were. It was Stravinky's Firebird and again, not a diet version! We left wondering what on earth we had just witnessed, in a tiny town in Iceland. This is what it must've been to see Liszt or Paganini perform live. When I frothed at the mouth about this to my father, who had 7 decades of following classical music behind him, he had to hear what it was that had me going, as one who loathed his endless opera and symphony LP playing. I had to assure him it wasn't a product of modern technology, having seen it with my own eyes. Something I will never forget.

My guitar teacher Ryhuei Kobayashi competed with him in the Alessandria guitar contest (Italy) in the late 70’s, he was 23, and Yamashita was only 13. Obviously Yamashita won the 1st prize As he was a guitar phenomenon, 2nd prize was desert, and 3rd prize the 3rd prize was won by my teacher Kobayashi. He would tell me, this kid was something unbelievable. He just wanted to quit but as he was Japanese, the honor mattered a lot to him, so he didn’t quit. My master was not a virtuoso at all, but he actually got a prize because even if he was not as skilled, his interpretations would always bring you to tears. May you rest in peace Mr. Kobayashi 👏🏻

Ive been playing guitar for about 15 years. First time i ever come across this name. Im baffled. You corrected my life man.

Yamashita is a legend. I'm very happy that he's getting recognition on youtube for once.

I had never heard of him and believe it to be a grave injustice that most of us have not. I am saddened never to have heard this virtuoso's performance until only today. Thank you for bringing this great musician into the spotlight, though a small one at that.

I agree with your assessment of Yamashita. I just want to add that I had the opportunity to have lunch with him after I picked him up from the airport in San Francisco. His hand, when I shook it, was surprisingly soft. His voice and demeanor, also, was so soft. At lunch he wanted mostly to eat vegetables and he spoke of his family and not so much of music. Very memorable lunch. BTW - his daughter is, today, an outstanding guitarist as well.

Finally a video from a reputable guitar institution praising the most phenomenal classical guitarist from our time. Great video!

This is the most articulate accurate video about Yamashita and long overdue.

The legendary Mussorgsky transcription was what put Yamashita "on the map", as it were but it is by no means his only achievement of note. Apart from other, equally ambitious arrangements, including Dvorak's New World Symphony, Yamashita's other claim to greatness is the sheer volume of his recorded output. His prodigious catalogue not only contains almost the entire "standard" repertoire but also includes new works written for him as well as numerous arrangements for solo guitar, duo and ensemble. I think that, to date, he has recorded 96 CDs. A good example of his incredible work ethic is the Bach boxset he made in 1992 which consists of his transcriptions of Bach's entire works for solo violin. The total length of this one release was five hours. Yamashita has for some time been shunning the limelight but he has never been idle and I believe that his exceptional contribution to the instrument has still yet to be fully realised.

I saw Yamashita twice long ago. I sat about 15 feet away and could clearly see the mind numbing, innovative techniques he used with full mastery and to brilliant effect. I've seen many of the old Master Guitarists play live, including Segovia, Sabicas, Paco de Lucia, Joe Pass, Barney Kessell, John McLaughlin, Al Di Meola, Pat Metheny, Barrueco, etc., and many current ones as well. Too many to list. Yamashita stands alone among them all. He's a very high level genius with extraordinary physical dexterity and control whose fingers listen to his every idea, immediately and flawlessly. Seeing and hearing him play was exhilarating and soul crushing at the same time.

For me this artist is a colossal mystery. Why this obscurity in the West? Lack of interest or ambition? Personal priorities? Poor management? Language and cultural barriers? Jealousy? His enormous catalogue is pricey and scarce, his master classes non-existent, his recitals like comet visits. Perplexing.

He’s playing a guitar, a harp, a Japanese Koto, and a violin on on 1 instrument. It’s otherworldly.

tonebase this guy deserves a raise these videos are incredible

Nobody admits it? I know many who admit his outstanding guitar performances. I show his recordings and videos regularly to my students at Cologne Music University🤩 A perfect musician!

This is such a great example of amazingly well thought-out content. Refreshing critique and curating ideas. Congrats, Tonebase and, of course, Jakob!

I saw him perform at Royce Hall at UCLA in 1989. I couldn't breathe the entire performance. They had booths set up for guitarists where they could sell their instruments and seek counseling.

Yamashita is one player I´m proud of knowing about in Brazil, a country that produced so many virtuoso players. Kazuhito is the best fresh air the guitar ever needed. Long live Kazuhito Yamashita!

With Pictures Yamashita went to the Moon on a bicycle. It's just unheard of.

I've been on YouTube forever - and never have I learned so much from a music video!