Lenny came to town to play at the local club where I was a hanger out. I met Lenny and he agreed to give me a lesson and he invited me to meet him at his motelthe next morning I arrived and he invited me in. I had brought my D18, which was tuned to open G. Lenny took the guitar out and started playing Black Mountain Rag! Unbelievable beautiful After Lenny said he had an appointment and couldn't give me a lesson. So we exchange our goodbyes! The world's greatest guitarist! You name it, Lenny can play it; Jazz, Country, Blues, Classical, Flamingo!

I had the privilege seeing Lenny perform live at a small club in Vancouver. He was amazing but odd. First he came out with much longer hair that any photo of him I had seen before. He played a 12-string Hagstrom electric guitar but with only 6 strings on it and his bass player played a Hagstrom 8-string bass guitar with only 4 strings on it. Apparently they preferred the wider necks. Sadly Lenny was heavily influenced by his addiction. So when he came on stage and sat down, he just sat there like he had fallen asleep (which I have since learned is common for heroin use). Then after at least a couple of minutes, he suddenly "woke up" and introduced the first song which was for the band to tune up -- except this was an amazing song in itself. It must have been several minutes. The band stopped. The audience applauded feverishly and then Lenny just sat there for another couple of minutes as though asleep. Then he introduced the next song, played it brilliantly, the audience cheered and then Lenny dozed off again. The whole set was like this. Brilliant musicianship and pauses before each song. I am still amazed by his enormous talent. A friend of mine served as Lenny's addiction recovery counselor in Edmonton and sometimes Lenny would bring a guitar along and provide my friend a private lesson. That's gotta be cool! I saw a recent interview of Andy Summers of The Police who took a few private lessons from Lenny. Andy said Lenny was THE best ever. I saw another recent inteview with Tommy Emmanuel who met Lenny a few times. The first time he had an appointment to meet Chet Atkins so when Tommy arrived Chet asked if he wanted to meet the best living guitarist -- which, of course, was Lenny Breau, who was jamming by himself upstairs. Then Tommy jammed for a few hours with Chet and Lenny. I have contended for decades that Lenny was Canada's greatest musician. His life was all too short. I am a life long fan.

@davidferrara1105

Ай бұрын

He's the best all around I've ever heard, and I studied with a ton of Segovia's students. Like, a lot. got BM and MM in classical guitar but this dude takes the cake.

amazing player, the counterpoint with the left hand, bass and melodies, then the harmonics and rhythms with the right, the intricate improvisations...and then he just does these amazing solos between moving chord harmonies, the guy was just unbelievable, and almost 40 years later it still blows my mind.

Lenny was a real gift to the scene.

Genius guitar player. I think he might have been the best of all time.

@Wintermute0168

6 ай бұрын

That's what Chet said.

@davidkopec9442

5 ай бұрын

He had Chet’s fingerstyle level with Joe Pass’ grasp of harmony.

@m.vonhollen6673

5 ай бұрын

Maybe one of the best of his time. There’s a new generation of guitarists. Matteo Mancuso is worth a listen.

Wow, Lenny is so humble sharing his techniques. What an excellent teacher too, he covers a lot here, thank you for this treasure

One of the most brilliant guitarists ever !

Watching this is witnessing genius.

I was following Lenny’s column in Guitar Player Magazine during this time. I learned Bouree in E minor because of it so I could try and use it as a base for improvisation. And then he was taken away.

He‘s the best ever and completely humble about it

@user-vz7xf5vf6j

Ай бұрын

Totally agree, yeah the best. In 1974 I was visiting family in Toronto from the UK and after a meal out in town we walked through downtown and passed a record store and they were playing Lenny’s version of the Claw… enough said.

The camera zoom and operator is very good

Great generous musical genius!

What a wonderful thing this video is. I learned a bunch. I wonder how his guitar is tuned… Thank you for posting.

@bojawithwhiskey

10 ай бұрын

It's tuned to standard tuning with an extra high A string on top

@guitarlots

10 ай бұрын

Standard tuning with a high A string, but tuned down a half step so the high A string isn't too tight because it breaks the high A string

Mindblowing

Who would've thought that Lenny would be killed later that year (1984). It still galls me that no one was ever held accountable for his death, and their one suspect who had threatened Lenny on numerous occasions and of whom Lenny admitted he was afraid was never charged. A sad end to an incredible musical legacy.

@thelennybreauarchives5675

2 ай бұрын

Yes, and that prime suspect was in the audience for this workshop, edited out of this version thankfully.

Genius 🎼👌

As great a guy as he was a player...sensitive enough to need protecting from a brutal world

And then along comes Julian Lage.

anyone know who made his guitar

@icecreamforcrowhurst

3 ай бұрын

Kirk Sand