Lenny!

**Stringswinger** · 02-10-2025, 01:07 PM

**nyc chaz** · 02-10-2025, 01:37 PM

There are great players and there are guys like Lenny who are in a whole other stratosphere.

**Cunamara** · 02-10-2025, 02:10 PM

That was nice. I think his brother's final point- remembering Lenny for the wonderful musician that he was- is good. It's easy to focus on Lenny the train wreck resulting from drugs and alcohol, and also Lenny the murder victim. Lenny seems to have felt pretty uncomfortable and restricted by the "greatest guitar player in the world" moniker, which is understandable. Now, personally I think that Joe Pass, Johnny Smith or George Van Eps could be argued as the greatest guitar players in jazz (at least for their respective times, which overlap to some degree with Lenny). Now that tag gets applied to Julian Lage, Ben Monder, Matteo Mancuso, Pasquale Grasso, etc. What a terrible burden! Especially for a young guy like Matteo, who was getting that stuff when he was still in high school; he seems to have a fairly level head about it, from interviews with him that I've seen.

It would be nice if there could be a complete box set of his recordings someday. I really like his duo recording with the clarinetist Brad Terry, in particular. The live LA bootleg recording is also pretty astonishing stuff. While Lenny gets compared to Bill Evans a lot and seems to have been inspired by him, there can be a lot of McCoy Tyner in his playing (with some Coltrane-esque stuff simultaneously).

**Stringswinger** · 02-10-2025, 02:18 PM

Originally Posted by Cunamara

That was nice. I think his brother's final point- remembering Lenny for the wonderful musician that he was- is good. It's easy to focus on Lenny the train wreck resulting from drugs and alcohol, and also Lenny the murder victim. Lenny seems to have felt pretty uncomfortable and restricted by the "greatest guitar player in the world" moniker, which is understandable. Now, personally I think that Joe Pass, Johnny Smith or George Van Eps could be argued as the greatest guitar players in jazz (at least for their respective times, which overlap to some degree with Lenny). Now that tag gets applied to Julian Lage, Ben Monder, Matteo Mancuso, Pasquale Grasso, etc. What a terrible burden! Especially for a young guy like Matteo, who was getting that stuff when he was still in high school; he seems to have a fairly level head about it, from interviews with him that I've seen.

It would be nice if there could be a complete box set of his recordings someday. I really like his duo recording with the clarinetist Brad Terry, in particular. The live LA bootleg recording is also pretty astonishing stuff. While Lenny gets compared to Bill Evans a lot and seems to have been inspired by him, there can be a lot of McCoy Tyner in his playing (with some Coltrane-esque stuff simultaneously).

Lenny did his own thing and is unlike anyone else. Comparing him to other jazz musicians will always fall short. Lenny was that rarest of guitar players, a true original.

**nyc chaz** · 02-10-2025, 02:33 PM

The guy today doing his own thing is Tommy Emmanuel.He can play any style and do it well.It always amazes me how many guitar players don't know who he is when you mention his name.

**Dave70** · 02-10-2025, 05:58 PM

I like the little story at 4:24, Lenny finds something nice to say about a lesser player.

**AllanAllen** · 02-10-2025, 10:52 PM

Wow, I’ve been missing out with this guy! I gave a few albums a listen and they weren’t for me.

I went back today and I’m blown away by the Duo albums The Living Room Tapes and Live On Bourbon Street!

**Cunamara** · 02-15-2025, 01:27 AM

Lenny could be just astonishing. And sometimes... not. There is a documentary by his daughter on YouTube called "the Genius of Lenny Breau." It's worth a watch, most convenient if you can find the full length version rather than one split up into multiple segments. There's a lot of great clips of Lenny playing, for example back in his days on the CBC when he had his own TV show.

**Mick-7** · 02-15-2025, 02:44 AM

I didn't realize that his death was declared a homicide, thought it was drug related.

**Doctor Jeff** · 02-15-2025, 11:21 AM

Originally Posted by Mick-7

I didn't realize that his death was declared a homicide, thought it was drug related.

Oh, I foresee quite a rabbit hole to be gone down right here…

Bottom line: it’s a mystery and highly controversial.

**Doctor Jeff** · 02-15-2025, 11:34 AM

Looks like a very nice documentary. Will watch the whole thing soon.

OMG the fingernails…I don’t think I’ve ever seen a guitarist with nails that long. (Segovia, btw, said they should only come to the end of the fleshy part of the finger, which is pretty much how I keep mine trimmed.)

**Cunamara** · 02-15-2025, 02:27 PM

The first time I ever heard of Lenny was in a Guitar Player Magazine interview back in the early 80s. He commented on his nails and that he was going for a nothing-but-nails sound. I suppose extravagant nails like that are the only way to do it. There's no way he ever washed dishes with those nails.

**sgcim** · 02-15-2025, 04:01 PM

Originally Posted by Cunamara

The first time I ever heard of Lenny was in a Guitar Player Magazine interview back in the early 80s. He commented on his nails and that he was going for a nothing-but-nails sound. I suppose extravagant nails like that are the only way to do it. There's no way he ever washed dishes with those nails.

He used to wear gloves 24/7 to protect his nails!