Tak Matsumoto News

As part of preparations for the ongoing B’z 30th Year exhibition “SCENES”, B’z staff were tasked with gathering hundreds of artifacts from the band’s history to present to the public. The staging follows the band’s full career with props never before displayed, including the original lyric sheets for various songs such as “ultra soul” and various costumes worn through the years. Of special interest to guitar aficionados was the prospect of seeing all of Tak’s instruments in one place. Yet, one of his iconic guitars is missing, and with good reason: it disappeared without explanation in 1997 and continues to be lost.

In the mid 1990s, Tak had taken a liking to Ernie Ball’s signature “MUSICMAN” EVH—Eddie Van Halen—signature series. One covered in a striking pink finish was used as part of numerous tours including Pleasure’95 “BUZZ!!”, LIVE-GYM ’96 “Spirit LOOSE” and Pleasure’97 “FIREBALL” as well as being pictured on the cover of double A-side single “Mienai Chikara ~INVISIBLE ONE~/MOVE“.

Staff first noticed the guitar was missing sometime after the close of B’z LIVE-GYM Pleasure’97 “FIREBALL”. It was being entered into storage when it simply disappeared. As a well-documented, stage-used guitar, its value would be immense on the second-hand market. Even with twenty years gone, it has never surfaced publicly as staff search for its location.

■ Manufacturer: ERNIE BALL
■ Model: MUSICMAN EVH model
■ Finish: Pink
■ Serial No.: 86255
■ Period of Use: 1995-1997
■ Primary Usage:
・B’z Single「Mienai Chikara ~INVISIBLE ONE~」 Cover
・B’z LIVE-GYM Pleasure ’95 “BUZZ!!”
・B’z LIVE-GYM ’96 “Spirit LOOSE”
・B’z LIVE-GYM Pleasure’97 “FIREBALL”
■ Characteristics:
・”GO NO FURTHER” logo painted onto headstock.

UPDATE: The guitar has been found! Within days of putting out the call on social media, numerous tips came in that eventually led to the recovery of the long-lost instrument. For the past two decades, the guitar has been stored in a prominent guitar manufacturer’s warehouse under careful conditions. The entity in question has not been named but were happy to return the guitar to Tak, who now has it in his possession once again:

The guitar will be on display as part of the second half of the B’z “SCENES” exhibition for fans to see for the first time in twenty years.

Tak Matsumoto News

It has been revealed that Tak Matsumoto will be headlining a new themed collaboration album titled SUPER GUITAR DISNEY. The release will feature guitar heavyweights from all eras, including Paul Gilbert, Zakk Wylde, Richie Kotzen, and Jeff Watson. All will be covering seminal Disney theme songs in their own style, with Tak himself tackling “When You Wish Upon a Star” from Pinocchio.

This is hardly the first time Tak has set out to cover film themes. In 2004, he collaborated with other guitarists—including frequent B’z support member Yoshinobu Ohga—for the film-centric Theatre Of Strings. For the album, Tak performed on “My Favorite Things” from The Sound of Music, “The Godfather (Waltz~Love Theme)”, and the “Enter the Dragon Theme” before the album culminates in all four featured guitarists playing on an original composition titled “The Magnificent Four”. Notably, Ohga also provided his own rendition of “When You Wish Upon A Star”.

The Disney-themed guitar album will be released next month on April 25.

Tak Matsumoto News

At the end of July, it was offically confirmed that Tak Matsumoto & Daniel Ho would be reteaming for a show at the Aratani Theater in Los Angeles for their tour Tak Matsumoto & Daniel Ho Live! 2017 -Electric Island, Acoustic Sea-. The show is set for a little under a month away on October 14. Four days prior to this, however, the two will perform a 200-seat warm-up show at the Clive Davis Theater also in Los Angeles. The venue is part of the Grammy Museum, with both musicians being previous Grammy Award winners in the past.

The added show at the Clive Davis Theater will take place on October 10, 2017. Tickets are not yet on sale but will go likely quickly when they do on September 21. The duo’s collaborative album Electric Island, Acoustic Sea is now available for purchased worldwide on iTunes.

The press release for the event is preserved below:

Daniel Ho and Tak Matsumoto are two of the most respected artists in their fields. Combined, they have won seven GRAMMY Awards, sold millions of albums, and touched every corner of the world with their music. Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, and based in Los Angeles, Daniel Ho has graced his presence in many aspects of music, from composing to producing to audio engineering. Alone, Ho has racked up six GRAMMYs, multiple Hawaiian Music accolades, and four Taiwanese Golden Melody Awards. Ho has written and performed songs in the English and Hawaiian languages, and his music has been featured in films including the romantic comedy hit, Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Achieving success as a soloist and collaborator, Ho worked with Tak Matsumoto to record and tour their 2017 album titled, Electric Island, Acoustic Sea.

Born in Osaka, Japan, Matsumoto quickly emerged as a top guitarist, highly regarded by his Japanese peers and worldwide. In the late-’80s, Matsumoto partnered with Koshi Inaba to form the rock duo, B’z, and reign as one of Japan’s most successful acts, selling over 80 million copies and holding the record for most consecutive No. 1 singles. Matsumoto, with his coveted guitar style, has joined forces with artists like Steve Vai, Aerosmith, Eddie Van Halen, and Slash. Alongside Larry Carlton, he won a GRAMMY for Best Pop Instrumental Album for Take Your Pick. Matsumoto is one of the first five artists, as well as the first Asian artist, to be bestowed with the honor of a signature Gibson Les Paul guitar.

Ho and Matsumoto’s first collaborative album, Electric Island, Acoustic Sea, is an especially personal project. Featuring traditional instruments that are a part of their respective island cultures, including the ukulele, slack key guitar, koto and taiko, the album is a fresh take on contemporary instrumental music. The GRAMMY Museum is thrilled to welcome Tak Matsumoto and Daniel Ho to the Clive Davis Theater for an intimate conversation about their newest collaborative album, which will be followed by a live performance, hosted by Executive Director Scott Goldman.

Tak Matsumoto News

As we previously reported back in June, Tak Matsumoto has recently contributed all new music to the upcoming solo album Rin (凛, Cold) from Shizuka Kudo. The release is due out on August 30—the same day as B’z COMPLETE SINGLE BOX—and today further information has been announced.

The song written by Tak has been titled “Mitsu to Toge” (蜜と棘, Honey and Thorns). Arrangement was handled by Yukihide “YT” Takiyama, who was first credited on a B’z release as co-arranger with Tak and Koshi on “Seimei” earlier this year. The lyrics were penned by Shizuka Ijuin, a noted fiction writer and lyricist in Japan.

Below is a brief preview of the resulting song along with a comment by Kudo:

For more information on the times Tak and B’z have written songs for other artists, check out our featured article “The B’z Songs Written for Other Artists“.

Tak Matsumoto News

Flyer for the presumably final showing for the duo’s Electric Island, Acoustic Sea promotions

It has just been announced that one final date will be played as part of Tak Matsumoto & Daniel Ho Live! 2017 -Electric Island, Acoustic Sea- and this time, it is in Los Angeles on October 14, 2017!

The show is presented by American Honda Motor Co., Inc. and JACCC, the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center. Tickets are on sale now at this link and are listed at $49 for orchestra seating and $39 for balcony options. Unlike with many past B’z shows overseas, there are no special tickets allocated for B’z Party members and all are first come, first serve.

More information on the show can be found here on the venue’s website, along with copy promoting the event:

The prospect of a stop in Los Angeles was first floated in an interview with Daniel Ho some months ago but given it was not included in the initial announcement and was also not paired with the Hawaii show that served as the tour’s finale, we were unsure if it was still happening. Electric Island, Acoustic Sea is available for purchase worldwide on iTunes. We may not have heard the last of the album, however, as November will bring the official list of the Grammy Award nominations and the album is surely being considered given Daniel Ho’s own fourteen nominations and Tak’s one which resulted in a win with Larry Carlton in 2010.

Tak has previously performed in Los Angeles as part of B’z numerous times, including twice for B’z LIVE-GYM 2002 “Rock n’ California Roll” and LIVE-GYM 2003 “BANZAI IN NORTH AMERICA”, with one showing for 2011’s -long time no see- tour and another for B’z LIVE-GYM 2012 -Into Free- at the since re-purposed Gibson Amphitheater at Universal Citywalk.

Tak Matsumoto News

It was just been announced that Tak Matsumoto will be providing newly-written music for Shizuka Kudo’s upcoming commemorative album which is as-yet untitled.

Kudo—formerly a member of large-scale girl group and AKB48 predecessor Onyanko Club in the 1980s—debuted solo in August of 1987 with her single “Kindan no Telepathy”. Thirty years later, she will commemorate the occasion with an all-new original album to which other figures in the Japanese music industry will contribute. Amongst those collaborators joining Tak for the August 30, 2017 album will also be Koji Tamaki of Anzen Chitai fame with more to be announced in the coming months.

This is far from the first time Tak has penned new music to be used by other artists. Outside of his collaborations with Koshi, such as when the two wrote “HEAT” for Korean artist Kim Hyun Joong in the summer of 2012, Tak was responsible for the music to noted KAT-TUN single “Real Face” in 2006. The single was the group’s first and went on to sell over 1,000,000 copies, remaining their biggest-selling release to date.

The subject of B’z contributing songs to other artists will be covered at length in a new featured article on July 12.