Watanabe, Berlin and Hernandez: We would do a master-class for you!

Cult musicians united for a joint tour around Europe: guitarist Kazumi Watanabe, one of the best base palyers in the contemporary history Jeff Berlin and Grammy holder, drummer and percussionist from Cuba Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez. Separately, the musicians recorded and performed music with Carlos Santana, Dizzy Gillespie, Al Di Meola, Richard Bona, McLaughlin.

Kazumi Watanabe

Jeff Berlin

Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez

It was totally predictable that almost all Minsk musicians came to see the famous jazzmen. Euroradio noticed in the audience musicians from the bands Troitsa, Krama, Apple Tea, The Silicon, J:Mors, Krambambulya, H.A. Quartet…

"These musicians are totally unbelievable, I am out of words, - says drummer Kolya Belanovich. - I was really looking forward to this concert, and I would surely love to play with these musicians at the same stage at least in a couple of decades... Frankly speaking, I expected the event to be cool, but this is so over the top... They have a totally different culture of sound and performance, this is an absolutely different level! The concert was like a master-class!"

The very first compositions and improvisings of the trio caused a storm of applause and screams of the excited audience.

"This is my second visit to Minsk, and our second performance in such squad," Jeff Berlin underlines the uniqity of the event. - The first concert took place literally a day ago in Milan, and I don't know how many of them we will play in total."

The musicians in the audience also note the fact that the trio has not been playing in such squad for a long time. "Not just Belarusians should be reproached for inaccuracies!" laughs drummer Alyaksandr Minets, who came here specially to see Horacio Hernandez. - It is obvious that the guys did not play all the songs together. If Belarusians made mistakes at a concert, it would have been a tragedy, like, we don't get in! In the reality - it's the same everywhere! In our country, everyone looks at Europe, at European musicians. As for me, I am convinced that Belarusian musicians do not get the praise they deserve in Belarus. Today, I got convinced in that even more!"

During the curtain calls the viewers (mostly musicians) made up their minds and moved closer to the stage, hoping to catch a glimpse of some trick to play the guitar like a virtuoso. "Why talking about the masters?" says base player Alyaksei Zaitsau - "They are real masters! It's a pity they did not give a master-class, I would have attended it with pleasure!"

The celebrity guests also lacked a master-class in Minsk! Right after the concert, the musicians of the trio willingly shared their experience with the Belarusian colleagues, discussed the concert and promised to return to our country purposefully to hold workshops. Even each of the musicians separately.

"I expected a storm of crazy notes, a mixture of styles. In fact, this is what I got! young drummer Yan Sapeha says, in awe. He was really happy about the promised perspective of a master-class. - The musicians did not have pity for me, they overloaded my brain with their not so light music. I was most impressed by the guitarist-energizer Watanabe - he played as if he had batteries inside. Real Japanese quality! However, I came to see the drummer in the first place, of course."  

During the after-party, Horazio Hernandez became unexpectedly talkative and told about the beginning of his career, how he left Cuba and got to Europe being a young lad:

"I just jumped on a ship and escaped. It's good that I did so. Although I had relatives over there, I realized this was the only opportunity to break the circle."

The Belarusian musicians who came to the after-party to jam with the famous jazzmen asked about their experience of working with Santana and Bona. They has such a hot discussion that they didn't let Hernandez and Berlin go to the stage. Kazumi Watanabe had to carry the can alone.