Joshua Breakstone

**Woody Sound** · 03-30-2026, 09:46 PM

Great bopper. Been listening to him since the mid-late 80's. I wonder why some great players just don't get broader recognition.

**FourOnSix** · 03-30-2026, 10:33 PM

He's living in Japan and probably has a pretty good following there.

**P4guitar** · 03-30-2026, 10:39 PM

He's one of those players I call "story tellers". He constructs line that have an arc. Story tellers require listeners and the vast majority of the audience aren't into listening, they're into volume, flash, and pyrotechnics.

**Woody Sound** · 03-30-2026, 10:52 PM

Originally Posted by FourOnSix

He's living in Japan and probably has a pretty good following there.

Actually he was gigging back here around a year ago, I don't know if it was just to gig a bit, or if it's longer term.

**lawson-stone** · 04-01-2026, 11:07 AM

He's right up there among my top 3 or 4 favorite players. Solid as a rock, creative, fun to listen to, and has a musical voice that's instantly recognizable within a measure or two.

**JazzPadd** · 04-01-2026, 11:35 AM

His FB page has updates. He was recently in Vietnam & Australia, and gigs regularly in Japan.

**JimR56** · 04-05-2026, 06:06 PM

Originally Posted by Woody Sound

Great bopper. Been listening to him since the mid-late 80's.

Me too. I had his "Wonderful" album with Barry Harris on vinyl, then "4/4 = 1", and then all of his albums on Contemporary. I got to meet him at a local show, and then corresponded with him for awhile (he was actually thinking about finding another L5, as I recall, and he knew I had some vintage guitar connections, but I'm glad he ended up sticking with the L5 that he still plays).

Josh was always very clear about wanting to be seen as a musician first, and a guitarist second. He was primarily influenced by certain horn players (Lee Morgan, Clifford Brown), and then by Grant Green. My favorite thing about Josh's style was his penchant for quoting other tunes during his solos. Perhaps only Paul Desmond, Dexter Gordon and a few others did it so liberally- and so well!

JB has been very popular in Japan for decades now. He even recorded an album of Japanese songs back in 1999.

I wonder why some great players just don't get broader recognition.

Same here. The epitome of that unfortunate phenomenon was the late great Louis Stewart, an absolute jazz guitar master and bebop guitar icon to those who were hip to him.