Fujita is a professor at Berklee College of Music, and the music here flies in the face of the old adage, “Those who can’t do, teach.”

Fujita proves himself a true player’s player; his mastery is obvious, his tone and sound are as good as it gets, and his soulfulness is unquestionable. The music is mostly a mix of funk and jazz that on occasion steps outside. Cuts like “Catty Woman” are a perfect example – a bluesy, funky, jazz piece, it takes a route not normally driven with a tone and feel that are liquid and warm. Tomo travels to James Brown-land with a funky 9th-chord fusillade that rolls into a jazzy shuffle on “Confidence Cat II.” The cut shows how easily (and skillfully) he can build a guitar solo. That funk shows up again on the chunky-and-funky “Funky Thang,” where he lays the foundation with “popcorn-guitar” single notes while the solo uses single lines, double-stops, and chords. “Orange Juice and Vodka” has a greasy groove with clean jazz-rock guitar gliding in and out of several key modulations before winding up with a J.B. sendup that sounds like James will be dancing out of your stereo any minute.