Continuing the thread from the last post, as the following caricature of Django Reinhardt from The Triplets Of Belleville illustrates, we're talking guitarists.
As titled, today's post is devoted to "string swing" - and Django's batting leadoff with some Swing 39.
After Swing 39, it's time for some Swing 42!
Guitar virtuoso Hank Marvin made history, going back to the 1950's days of skiffle, backing British pop star Cliff Richard and personifying classic rock n' roll with his band The Shadows and subsequent groups. The versatile guitarist, 77 and still performing, also plays killer gypsy jazz. He has blazed trails on the guitar in the 20th and 21st centuries.
A guitarist much influenced by Hank Marvin & The Shadows, Tommy Emmanuel, made an appearance in last Sunday's post on jazz-classical guitar genius Lenny Breau, so here he is, with fellow string-meisters Richard Smith and Jim Nichols at the Chet Atkins convention in The Land Of Chet Atkins, Nashville.
Are here's Tommy with frequent collaborator - they made a terrific album together titled The Colonel & The Governor - Martin Taylor.
Been known to binge-watch music clips involving this dynamic duo.
Martin Taylor is yet another virtuoso on the short list of astonishingly good guitarists.
First became of Martin when he was, in the 1980's, the guitarist with none other than Stéphane Grappelli, jazz violinist supreme and co-founder with Django Reinhardt of The Hot Club of France.
Another guitarist who plays duos with and teaches workshops with Martin is Robin Nolan.
Tommy, Frank and Vinny outdo themselves in the following performance.
Frank's duo with Martin Taylor on "Cherokee" is equally wonderful.
Bringing a post devoted to "swingin' on a six string" full circle, seems fitting to send this out with some more Django - and also recommend checking out some cool Django Reinhardt playlists on YouTube, organized by year.
It would appear that the poster, Mr. Becker, who we think might be a friend of the Reinhardt family, has access to numerous lesser known concerts, airchecks and radio broadcasts the guitar ace did after World War II.
Django always sounds great to the gang at Way Too Damn Lazy To Write A Blog.
"Lenny Breau was the best guitarist to ever shit between two boots." Jerry Reed
"Lenny was a comet passing through" Chet Atkins
"If you had dropped a bomb on the place that night you'd have wiped out all the guitar players in the world. They were all down there, from Howard Roberts to George Van Eps to Joe Pass... He conquered Hollywood because we all loved him as a player and we loved him as a person." Carol Kaye
Lenny Breau (1941-1984) was an original and astounding musician, a genius of finger style guitar and one of the greats of the 20th century.
While there have been many brilliant guitarists, from Django Reinhardt to Barney Kessel to Tal Farlow to Herb Ellis to George Benson to Joe Pass to Wes Montgomery to Kenny Burrell to Roy Clark and Hank Garland, only Lenny Breau could delve deeply into a Chet Atkins + J.S. Bach + Bill Evans place.
He could bring the sound of The Bill Evans Trio to the guitar like no another string-master, before or since.
Lenny could nail jazz, country-western, classical, flamenco, you name it, with great sensitivity.
He does more with harmonics alone than most guitar slingers do with 6 (or 7 or 12) strings and 23 frets!
I'll make sure to watch the following YouTube clips of Lenny Breau and the aforementioned guitar genius Tal Farlow playing unbelievably great music together today!
Tommy Emmanuel, in many respects the musician who has carried on and extended the innovative ideas originated by Lenny Breau into the 21st century, reminisces: "I met Lenny in 1980, at Chets' office. The 3 of us jammed for hours then I took Lenny to where he was playing that night. I carried his guitar and amp for him and set it up on the stage. Then I sat at the side and listened intently as Lenny played his way through a set of Jazz standards with a depth and such feeling that I could barely contain my tears and sheer delight in his wonderful soloing. I have never heard anyone do what he did that night, it was a miracle in my eyes! If you've never heard Lenny Breau, then get his "Live at Shelly's Mann Hole " album..Or play Lenny and Chets' version of "Sweet Georgia Brown". It will tell you so much about his brilliance...Tommy CGP."
Lenny's daughter Emily Hughes has produced two documentaries about her father.
The two films can be purchased or rented at lennybreau.com.
Thanks to the research and archive-digging involved in the making of these documentaries, never before seen footage of Lenny, such as the following, continues to turn up.
Here, Tommy Emmanuel pays tribute to Lenny Breau with some remembrances and this terrific song. Enjoy!
And enjoy Lenny Breau's records, too!
While the ace guitarist, as Wes and Django did, left this planet WAY too soon, at least, largely due to the excellent work and steadfast support of his friend and mentor Chet Atkins, Lenny waxed quite a few outstanding records. The following duo with clarinetist Brad Terry, The Complete Living Room Tapes, is one of his best.
To that, we music aficionados at Way Too Damn Lazy To Write A Blog say Mo' Breau, please.
Monsieur Blogmester a.k.a. Paul F. Etcheverry in his natural habitat, which could also be a curry joint in San Francisco.
Yes, we've been on hiatus. Unfortunately, this hiatus has not been spent eating bagels in front of Russ & Daughters in New York City while Madame Blogmeister is inside, selecting a bounty of smoked salmon and other astonishing food to bring back to the ol' homestead in Ulster.
This blogger has been out of action largely due to a sick computer. The "old reliable" MacBook Pro, due to a security vulnerability in the High Sierra system, is now a "hacked Mac," out of action and currently sporting a firmware lock. If only Mountain Lion - or a new operating system named Pete Puma - could be brought back to devour the rogue code. . .
Lots has happened since our last post. On the positive side, a computer on the 21 day disabled list makes it easier to avoid the putrid, fetid, tribal, tres toxic cesspool that is social media, and the epic San Francisco Silent Film Festival presented serious big screen glory last weekend at the Castro Theatre to close out May with style.
Alas, missed the festival entirely in 2017 and 2018, after a few years of, due to a lengthy illness in the family, just catching a handful of the programs. This year's "it costs too much to go" call turned out to be quite the mistake, as the dean of silent film history and preservation, filmmaker/author/scholar Kevin Brownlow, was the festival's special guest and celebrated his 80th birthday there. Oh well. . . hope to make it to the 2019 San Francisco Silent Film Festival. Until then, we'll watch our Charlie Chaplin Blu-rays, Undercrank Productions DVDs and Cartoon Roots compilations curated by silent animation expert Tommy Jose Stathes. . .
Also pleased that the mighty Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers are yet again in the NBA Finals and the one, the only Madison Bumgarner a.k.a. The Sheriff recovered from a broken pinky to pitch for the San Francisco Giants.
While our cats Yogi and Raymond fight in the background, we await the date of the next (and as of yet unannounced) KFJC Psychotronix Film Festival at Foothill College. We look forward to schlepping boxes bursting with 16mm film reels to yet another rilly big shoe!
The scuttlebutt is that the next
KFJC Psychotronix Film Festival at Foothill will transpire either on the last Saturday of July or the first Saturday in August. Robert Emmett will make an official announcement on KFJC's Saturday morning Norman Bates Memorial Soundtrack Show. Before this show, my co-programmers/curators Sci Fi Bob Ekman and Scott Moon shall present a mini-Psychotronix program to celebrate the re-opening of the New Rheem Theatre in Moraga on June 30.
On the extremely negative side, three tragic and untimely passings have saddened us here at Way Too Damn Lazy To Write A Blog.
The rotten news: chef and TV host turned writer and documentary filmmaker Anthony Bourdain, San Francisco 49er receiver
Dwight Clark, of "the catch" fame, and guitar genius Phil Emmanuel have passed.
The Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown programs top the very short list of this blogmeister's favorite TV shows - no, that would be his only favorite current show - while Madame Blogmeister has several of Bourdain's enjoyable, lively and well-written books in hardcover. He would no doubt scoff and give both a dirty look and a middle finger salute to anyone suggesting his death is a blow to the forces of cultural, literary and cinematic literacy - and yes, that's a cultural literacy that includes Iggy Pop & The Stooges, The Bad Brains, James White & The Blacks, Lou Reed's band featuring guitarist Robert Quine and Richard Hell & The Voidoids - but that's how it feels.
It appears Mr. Bourdain's passing was a direct result of the deadly combination of a failing relationship with more than a few close encounters with Ol' Man Depression too many. We can only hope for the best for the surviving family members of Mr. Bourdain, as well as those of the recently passed fashion designer Kate Spade, also a suicide. The family members are on the receiving end of a most rotten deal. Ol' Man Depression is a killer and a destroyer of families.
If you or anyone you know is considering suicide or self-harm or is anxious, depressed, upset, or needs to talk, there are people who want to help:
In the United States:
Crisis Text Line: Text START to 741741 from anywhere in the USA, at any time, about any type of crisis
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255
San Francisco Bay Area sports legend Dwight Clark, a much-loved, bonhomie-filled and by all accounts devastatingly funny fellow, passed after a lengthy battle with ALS.
One positive has been the outpouring of love and support by Dwight's friends and family through his illness.
Music (and especially guitar) aficionados shall recite a riff-filled rosary for the great Phil Emmanuel, brother of fellow guitar slinger Tommy and among the truly super-talented musical families, along with the Carlings of Sweden and the Marsalises of New Orleans. So, to at least attempt to close today's depressing post on a positive note, actually A BUNCH of positive notes (including 16th and 32nd notes), here are Phil & Tommy Emmanuel, doing what they do so well.
