The least enviable aspect of being a successful artist in this genre is no doubt trying to meet three sets of expectations. First, there's the ongoing desire to evolve disc to disc and challenge oneself creatively. Then, there's heeding the criticism of purists and cynics who may hold a kernel of truth when they say your music's a little lightweight. And finally, the matter of not straying too far from everything that's proved magical and successful in the past, lest you alienate your precious supporters. How to strike a balance between all three? Ask Gregg Karukas, whose melodic touch and diverse sense of style have bound him from first generation Rippingtons circa 1987 to one of this decade's most popular performers.

Kazumi Watanabe has for the past 20 years been one of the top guitarists in fusion, a rock-oriented player whose furious power does not mask a creative imagination. Watanabe studied guitar at Tokyo's Yamaha Music School and he was a recording artist while still a teenager. In 1979, he formed the group Kylyn and, in 1983, he put together the Mobo band. Several of his recordings have been made available by Gramavision and they show that he ranks up with Al DiMeola (when he is electrified) and Scott Henderson among the pacesetters in the idiom.