official GF blog

Jazz/R&B/Pop artist Fujii Kaze has been on an absolute roll recently – going where no Japanese artist has ever gone before.

He was just announced on the lineup for the most anticipated music festival of the year Coachella, opened for Billie Eilish‘s show in Tokyo, and appeared at Austin City Limits this weekend to perform his freshly released first full English album:

Prema

Kaze’s Journey West

It’s glaringly obvious with the release of Prema that Kaze doesn’t perform for the fame. Rather, he performs for a deep respect and lifelong love of American artists like Michael Jackson and Amy Winehouse, who inspired him from a young age.

Prema marks the first time the artist worked with American producers. Despite recording in his non-native language of English, Kaze stays true to his roots, keeping his eccentricity and carefree attitude.

Possibly because he reached enlightenment with the release of his new album.

It isn’t clear when he speaks English, but Kaze has a country accent when speaking Japanese.

Kaze comes from the modest town of Okayama – not so different in size or spirit from the suburbs of Texas, where I was born.

Seeing him come all the way from Japan’s countryside to the Wild West of Austin really put into perspective how far his love has taken him.

Austin City Limits Recap

Kaze performed an eleven song setlist at ACL.

The crowd’s overwhelming favorite was the new addition to his setlist, George Michael’s Careless Whisper, debuted just last week at his show in Mexico.

Many know of Kaze thanks to his viral song in 2022, Shinunoga E-wa, but didn’t know about his incredible piano, saxophone, and keytar skills.

Kaze’s multi instrumental ability reveal was a pleasant surprise for unfamiliar listeners.

While he didn’t wear a cowboy hat like I was hoping (he was decked out in a sombrero for his show in Mexico), he did acknowledge the Texas heat before performing his new song Casket Girl.

Kaze is currently touring with his support band mates – KOBY SHY on bass, Norihide Saji on drums, and the incredible TAIKING on guitar.

TAIKING is the guitarist of one of Japan’s biggest funk bands, SUCHMOS.

SUCHMOS went on a sudden pause after their bassist HSU’s untimely passing in 2021. It’s heart-warming to see TAIKING’s groovy sound and musicianship continued alongside Kaze.

The Crowd’s Thoughts

I wasn’t there with a mic invading the crowd’s space for TikToks (maybe next time!), but I asked attendees online how they liked the show.

One member of the crowd ranked Kaze as their favorite artist of the day:

“Kaze was amazing! I knew him before because I’ve liked some of his covers and Shinunoga E-wa but he BLEW ME AWAY!!!

I ranked him as my #1 this festival because his performance on the piano and sax was insane. A lot of artists are great singers, but kaze is a true musician, producer, dancer, and amazing vibes. I’m glad he had a decent sized crowd that seemed pretty appreciative.”

They also shared their boyfriend was unfamiliar with Kaze and not a fan of his style of music before attending, but rated him as his second favorite artist of the day against against Olivia Dean, Sabrina Carpenter, Doechii, and Ocean Alley. 

Another user said:

He was so entertaining and I did not expect him to dance and groove around so much! The saxaphone part took us all by surprise but the crowd loved it!

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Thank you Kaze for bringing your sound to the people of Texas!

I hope to see him back again soon, maybe at SXSW next year…?

(all photos credit to ACL’s official photographer, and video to rainglade)

Until next time. ❤