YouTube has brought some amazing musicians to broader public attention, but I haven’t seen anyone finger-pick a guitar the way this 20-year-old Japanese kid does. Kent Nishimura first came to my attention when I found his version of “Man in the Mirror” a few weeks ago, and I’ve seen several of his other videos since.
They all show off his preternatural skills, but this one is mind-blowing. It’s not only that Nishimura sounds like a one-man band — it’s that he recreates Terry Kath’s searing solos while he’s doing it.
In case you didn’t catch it the first time I posted it, here’s “Man in the Mirror.” Perhaps the most amazing part is that he doesn’t bring things to a swift conclusion — he actually improvises his way through the original song’s minute-long fadeout.
