The Genius of Lenny Breau

http://youtu.be/wLD-BVVYDV4

http://youtu.be/rV98gcW7X1I

Ha I have this on VHS somewhere. Lovely virtuosic player, with whom I was obsessed for a good while.

When I was still studying jazz guitar hardcore, I used to work on his fretted-harmonic arpeggio technique(s). One could spend a lifetime studying that technique. Great stuff. Self-comping, too. Crucial for guitar-bass-drums trio settings where there is no other harmonic instrument to support you while you are playing lines.

(I should say I do have trouble with some of his mid- and uptempo jazz stuff, as my ears tend to hear straight-ish bop players as Lick Machines. But perhaps I'm just jaded from having spent endless hours staring at the Charlie Parker Omnibook)

Harmonically, however, he made dudes like Joe Pass and Wes and Benson and Martino look like drooling idiots. He was a monster and his influence--technically, creatively and spiritually--resounds to this day.

I actually started studying flamenco about a year ago and it prompted me to revisit him. Good stuff.