Lenny Breau | |
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| Background information | |
| Born | Leonard Harold Breau (1941-08-05)August 5, 1941 Auburn, Maine, U.S. |
| Origin | Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada |
| Died | August 12, 1984(1984-08-12) (aged 43) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Genres | Jazz, country |
| Occupation | Musician |
| Instrument | Guitar |
| Years active | 1954–1984 |
| Labels | RCA, Sound Hole,Adelphi, Genes, Tudor |
| Website | lennybreau |
Leonard Harold Breau (August 5, 1941 – August 12, 1984) was an American-Canadian guitarist. He blended many styles of music, includingjazz,country,classical, andflamenco. Inspired by country guitarists likeChet Atkins, Breau usedfingerstyle techniques not often used injazz guitar. By using aseven-string guitar and approaching the guitar like apiano, he opened up possibilities for the instrument.
Breau was born August 5, 1941, inAuburn, Maine, USA and moved with his family toMoncton, New Brunswick, Canada in 1948.[1] His parents,Harold Breau andBetty Cody, were professional country musicians who performed and recorded from the mid-1930s until the mid-1970s. From the mid to late 1940s they played summer engagements in southern New Brunswick, advertising their performances by playing free programs on radio station CKCW Moncton. Lenny began playing guitar at the age of eight. When he was twelve, he started a small band with friends, and by the age of fourteen he was the lead guitarist for his parents' band, billed as "Lone Pine Junior", playingMerle Travis and Chet Atkins instrumentals and occasionally singing.[2] He made his first professional recordings inWestbrook, Maine at Event Records withAl Hawkes at the age of 15 while working as astudio musician.[3] Many of these recordings were released posthumously on the albumBoy Wonder.
The Breau family moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1957 and their new band performed around the city and province as the CKY Caravan. Their shows were radio broadcast live on Winnipeg'sCKY on Saturday mornings from remote locations.[3][4]
Around 1959 Breau left his parents' country band after his father slapped him in the face for incorporatingjazz improvisation into his playing with the group.[5] He sought out local jazz musicians, performing at Winnipeg venues Rando Manor and the Stage Door. He met pianist Bob Erlendson, who began teaching him more of the foundations of jazz.
In 1961, Breau had his first professionally recorded jazz session at the age of twenty at Hallmark Studios in Toronto, where he was accompanied by future members ofThe Band bassistRick Danko and drummerLevon Helm. The recording would remain unreleased until 2003.[6] In 1962, Breau briefly performed in the Toronto-based jazz groupThree with singer and actorDon Francks, and Eon Henstridge on acoustic bass.[3][4] Three performed in Toronto, Ottawa, and New York City. Their music was featured in the 1962National Film Board documentaryToronto Jazz. They recorded a live album at the Village Vanguard in New York City and appeared on theJackie Gleason andJoey Bishop television shows.[3]
Returning to Winnipeg a few months later, Breau became asession guitarist, recording forCBC Radio andCBC Television, and contributed to CBC-TV'sTeenbeat,Music Hop, and his ownThe Lenny Breau Show filmed in Winnipeg.[4] During this period, he met his partnerJudi Singh, with whom he had a daughter.[7] In 1963 and 1964, Breau appeared at David Ingram's Fourth Dimension at 2000 Pembina Highway inFort Garry, a suburb of Winnipeg.[3] Every Sunday night was a party open to all. Other regulars at the club on Sunday nights includedNeil Young and his bandThe Squires, andRandy Bachman, who was heavily influenced by Breau, particularly evident in the jazz guitar style of hisThe Guess Who hit "Undun".
In 1967, recordings of Breau's playing fromThe Lenny Breau Show found their way to Chet Atkins. The ensuing friendship resulted in Breau's first two mature solo albums,Guitar Sounds from Lenny Breau andThe Velvet Touch of Lenny Breau – Live! onRCA, accompanied by fellow WinnipeggersRon Halldorson and Reg Kelln.[8][9] Breau did not record again for nearly 10 years, though he continued to do session work in Winnipeg.
Breau left Winnipeg in 1976 and spent the last few years of his life in the United States, living in Maine, Nashville,Stockton, California, and New York City, eventually settling inLos Angeles in 1983.[3] These years he spent performing, teaching, and writing forGuitar Player magazine.[10] A few more solo albums were issued during his lifetime, in addition to albums recorded with fiddlerBuddy Spicher andpedal steel guitaristBuddy Emmons.
Breau had problems with drugs and alcohol beginning in the 1960s, which he managed to control during the last years of his life.[3]
On August 12, 1984, his body was found in the swimming pool at his apartment complex in Los Angeles, California.[11][12] The coroner reported that Breau had been strangled. Breau's wife, Jewel, was the chief suspect, but she was not charged.[3] He is interred in an unmarked grave atForest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery.[13]
Many live and "lost" recordings have been issued since Breau's death, and most of his previously released albums have also been reissued. Due to efforts byRandy Bachman of Guitarchives, Paul Kohler of Art of Life Records, Tim Tamashiro ofCBC Radio and others, a new generation of listeners has access to his music.[14]
The documentaryThe Genius of Lenny Breau was produced in 1999 by Breau's daughter, Emily Hughes, and directed by Hughes and John Martin. ThisGemini Award-winning[15] film includes interviews withChet Atkins,Ted Greene,Pat Metheny,George Benson,Leonard Cohen, and Bachman, as well as family members. In the film George Benson says, "He dazzled me with his extraordinary guitar playing ... I wish the world had the opportunity to experience his artistry."[16] A follow-up documentary,The Genius of Lenny Breau Remembered, directed by Hughes, was released in 2018.
The biographyOne Long Tune: The Life and Music of Lenny Breau by Ron Forbes-Roberts[1] was published in 2006 containing interviews with nearly 200 people and a comprehensive discography.
CBC Radio presented a documentary on Lenny Breau titledOn the Trail of Lenny Breau (the title is in reference to Breau's parents' song "On the Trail of the Lonesome Pine"). It was first broadcast on September 13, 2009, as part of a regular weekly program calledInside the Music. It was narrated by Breau's son, Chet.[17] The one-hour feature was produced in Montreal by John Klepko.[18]
Breau was inducted into theCanadian Music Hall of Fame in 1997.[19]
Breau's fully matured technique was a combination of Chet Atkins's and Merle Travis'sfingerpicking andSabicas-influencedflamenco, highlighted by right-hand independence and flurries of artificialharmonics. His harmonic sensibilities were a combination of his country roots, classical music,modal music, Indian, and jazz, particularly the work of pianistBill Evans.[14] Breau often adapted Evans's compositions, such as "Funny Man", for guitar. Breau said in relation to this, "I approach the guitar like a piano. I've reached a point where I transcend the instrument. A lot of the stuff I play on the seven-string guitar is supposed to be technically impossible, but I spent over twenty years figuring it out. I play the guitar like a piano, there's always two things going on at once. I'm thinking melody, but I'm also thinking of a background. I play the accompaniment on the low strings."[citation needed]
He had two customseven-string guitars made, one classical and one electric. At the time, no company made a string that could betuned to the high A on hisclassical guitar. Breau used fishing line of the correct gauge[10] until the La Bella company began making a string for him. The electric guitar was made by Kirk Sand, also with the first string being a high A.[20]
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