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(Art of Life AL1037-9 DVD)Video Samples | About the DVD | Liner Notes | Selected Quotations
Video Samples {top}About the DVD {top}Art of Life Records is proud to present our first DVD Video release, Lenny Breau & Brad Terry-"Live at the Maine Festival". This rare video performance, which was recorded live at the Maine Festival at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine on August 2nd, 1980, features the only known existing video footage of Lenny Breau playing his acoustic seven-string guitar. Lenny and Brad perform two popular Jazz standards, "Emily" by Mercer & Mandel and "Autumn Leaves" by Prevert, Mercer & Kosma. The DVD Bonus Features include an eight minute video interview and performance clips with Brad Terry, two previously unreleased High-Resolution 24-bit/96kHz Audio Only Bonus Tracks by Lenny Breau & Brad Terry ("Limehouse Blues" and "Make Someone Happy") and an extensive Lenny Breau Discography featuring over 100 recordings of Lenny as both a leader and as a sideman which includes artist, album title, year and record label information. The "Live at the Maine Festival" DVD Video is an All Region Code, NTSC, 16:9 Anamorphic Widescreen Format disc featuring High-Resolution 24-bit/96kHz Digital Audio Tracks and a Dolby Digital Soundtrack. Total video running time, concert footage and Brad Terry video interview, is approximately thirty minutes. Includes liner notes written by Brad Terry. Liner Notes {top}The thesaurus has been no help in finding adequate words to describe my feelings about having the opportunity to have known Lenny Breau. "Gentle genius", "gifted player", "superb and totally supportive accompanist" and "revered friend" all come to mind and none seems strong enough. After a gig with Lenny I felt like my ears were in traction. I felt in awe, but he never intimidated me; he easily could have. He always listened and supported but also pushed me to do my best. This DVD illustrates this amazing empathy and gives us a glimpse of Lenny's genius. We had such fun. I'm honored to have been a small part of his amazing legacy. I miss him and will never forget him. Thanks so much, Lenny. ~ Brad Terry Selected Quotations {top}Lenny Breau played with a lot of great musicians during the course of his life. A few of these players had an almost mystical effect on him, inspiring him to extend his playing and ideas into new realms. The sublime performance on this DVD confirms that Brad Terry was one of these. In front of a live audience, Terry, a jazz clarinet virtuoso, gently goads Lenny into a level of playing that may well have surprised Lenny himself. As a fan of Lenny Breau's who has listened to his best work for thirty plus years, I thought I'd heard the miracle of his playing at its peak on various recordings. But my jaw hit the floor in astonishment when I first viewed this performance. The technique and improvisational skills Lenny displays on this DVD are matched only by the joy, confidence and creative brilliance with which he plays. If Lenny Breau had played like this at every concert and on every recording he made during his career, he would undoubtedly have received the credit he well deserved as the greatest guitarist who ever lived. Seeing is believing so if you are a fan of Lenny's or simply a lover of guitar music, you owe it to yourself to get this DVD. Lenny Breau & Brad Terry: Live at the Maine Festival is the latest DVD
release from Art of Life Records. The DVD aims to provide an up close and
personal look at this dynamic, though often overlooked, guitar and clarinet
duo. Up until this point in time, any fan of the Breau-Terry duo had to be
content with the two CD set, The Complete Living Room Tapes, which
features the duo jamming during a house concert. With new archival
performance footage from the 1980 Maine Festival, an interview with Terry,
high-resolution audio files of two duo tracks and a complete discography of
all of Lenny's recordings as both a sideman and leader, this DVD package
showcases these two extraordinary musicians in a new and evocative fashion.
The concert footage on the DVD consists of two extended versions of the Jazz
classics "Emily" and "Autumn Leaves". Both players are at the top
of their games on each of these two tracks. Lenny, who uses his guitar case
as a footstool for some unexplained reason, maintains a focused approach in
both his comping and soloing. Not to be outdone, Terry highlights his
diversity as a woodwind performer by using his clarinet as both a soloing
and comping instrument. He not only improvises solos on the clarinet, but
walks bass lines behind Lenny's single-note solos as well. While there are
several moments that stand out during these tunes, none can match Terry's
remarkable whistling solo during "Emily." His incredible range and ability
to whistle complex bebop lines and melodic statements, transform this often
"campy" skill into an instrument of complexity and dynamic musicality.
The High-Resolution Audio Only Bonus Tracks add a welcomed second
dimension to the video sections of the DVD. The first high-resolution
recording is an up-tempo version of "Limehouse Blues," complete with Lenny
laughing at the end of the track and exclaiming, "Forget it, man!" Hearing
Lenny's voice provides a level of intimacy for the casual listener, as well
as an enjoyable moment for die-hard Lenny fans. As was the case in the
concert footage, both musicians perform expertly in their interpretation of
this standard blues tune. One of the reasons why this duo has become so
popular amongst Jazz fans is their ability to communicate on such a high
musical level. There are no awkward moments of transition between solos and
both musicians know when the moment is right to either comp or simply lay
out and let the other musician take the reigns. The best example of this
comes in the second audio track, a rubato version of "Make Someone Happy."
Here, both musicians rely on their ears and intuition to guide them through
the music as the time ebbs and flows during the melody sections of the song.
Moments like this one surely leave fans wishing that this duo had been able
to record at least one or two more records while Lenny was still on this
earth.
Another bonus feature included on the DVD is a complete discography of
Lenny Breau as both a leader and a sideman, including all records that were
released posthumously. The discography provides an excellent source of
information for Lenny's fans, as well as newcomers to his music who may not
be aware of his recorded history. People unfamiliar with Lenny's work may be
surprised to see how many recordings he made as a leader, as well as the
number of famous musicians he recorded with, especially his long standing
personal and professional relationship with Chet Atkins.
Overall, "Live at the Maine Festival" is an enjoyable watch with a little bit
of something for both fans and casual listeners alike. Lenny & Brad's
playing is exceptional on both the video and audio tracks.
With a total of over 40 minutes of film and audio only bonus tracks combined, this
DVD will leave fans wanting more, and hoping that this is only the beginning
of a series of archival footage being released by Art of Life Records. | |
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