Lenny Breau, You Left Town Way Too Soon

Last night my friend Vince was over and we were having fun spinning various species of discs. One tangent led us to jazz guitarist Lenny Breau. I pulled out his album "Swingin' on a Seven-String" with the great Buddy Emmons on pedal steel guitar supported by Jim Ferguson on acoustic bass and Kenny Malone on drums. The opener, "Back In Indiana" is a brisk free-wheeling swing with blistering trade-offs and melody splits between Emmons and Breau. This is the real deal, it just doesn't get much better. Lenny and Buddy made 2 albums together, the first, "Minors Aloud" is worth it for their send-up of Charlie Parker's "Scrapple From The Apple" alone. The story I've heard is Buddy worshiped Chet Atkins and had gone to Toronto to woodshed, network and get gigs. One day Chet was in Toronto visiting the RCA studios for a place to do some ad hoc recording sessions while on the road. He and the manager were walking down a hall of practice rooms, and the playing in one room caught Chet's ear. Chet is rumored to have said, "This cat's doing some of my tricks, only better!". Chet knocks on the door, walks in, Lenny just stops dead, transfixed and unable to speak. Chet breaks the ice and offers Lenny an opportunity to come to Nashville and see what can come together. Lenny did very well and became a local legend, even recording an album of acoustic duets with Chet. The playing on this record is stunning, and you can hear them amusing themselves several times throughout. I had the pleasure of meeting Lenny in 1980 at party at my parent's house where Lenny was invited to play some tunes with the great clarinettist Brad Terry who was a friend of the family. Lenny was a small guy with slightly too long arms and HUGE hands. A natural physique for serious guitar playing (KK Downing of Judas Priest and Peter Frampton are very similar). We actually had a chance to chat, I got to play piano for him (there is a picture) and he offered kind words, "You sound a lot like Chick Corea, Man!". He had to leave for a solo concert in Portland Maine that night and we never saw each other again. A few months later I got a call from my Dad, "Lenny was murdered yesterday, the police think it was a drug deal gone bad." Oh those demons. The world lost a true genius that fateful night. Fortunately, including the albums mentioned above, there are half a dozen excellent recordings under his own name and readily available through the usual outlets. If you haven't heard this guy and are a fan of jazz guitar I can't recommend Lenny highly enough. Thanks for the legacy of excellence Mr. Breau!