More Than Strings And Wood And Flesh

August 5th would have been Lenny Breau's 66th birthday.

Words cannot describe the effect that his playing has had on myself, and countless other musicians seeking to master their instrument rather than chase fame's fleeting embrace.

I first heard The Velvet Touch Of Lenny Breau when I was 15, and struggling with my muse...His effortless command of myriad styles molded into a seamless and unique whole, wedded with a painful self-effacement that led him to walk many noirish paths struck me like the proverbial bolt from the blue.

I was fortunate indeed to be present at one of his last seminars, antecedently to his untimely murder...And I have learned much from his example.

Here he is, in a younger guise, before the darkness.



And later in life...Sadder, wiser, but still looking to the future:



For those interested in more information, I would recommend Ron Forbes-Roberts' One Long Tune without reservation as a penultimate biographical source, and (if you can find it) the video The Genius Of Lenny Breau, created and produced by Lenny's daughter, Emily Hughes.

Here's to you, Lenny. The music never dies.