Gota
The Best of Gota
Instinct
As a reviewer, it oftentimes pains me when I receive a talented artist’s efforts whose music I just can’t get into. That’s what’s happening here as I listen to Gota. I’m sure Mr. Yoshiki is an incredibly skilled musician (after all, this is a Best of). It’s just that he’s a fusion artist – not that hard bopper funky fusion of the ’60s or Miles Davis’s On The Corner – I’m talking that “Smooth Jazz Flavors” Najee-type fusion. And, as a former straight-ahead DJ, I’ve got serious problems with that stuff. I absolutely despise it (especially when people who don’t know Thing 1 about the music tell me “Kenny G. is changing the very definition of jazz” – yeah, but in a Satanic, apocalyptic, seventh-layer-of-hell way!).
So, no, I’m not getting into Gota at all. I’m sure under all the schmaltz and cheese that smother the disc, there may be some choice funk (like in the beginning of “Let’s Get Started”), but it’s simply not for me. I will most definitely defer to those of you who like the genre and please let me know if it’s any good.
Instinct Records: http://www.instinctrecords.com
