Pickin' Cotten in Bloomington, MN

Lenny Breau
is a
jazz
enigma. He never really caught on with the public, yet was recognized by his peers as a major guitar innovator. Add to this a mysterious and still unsolved death in a Los Angeles swimming pool at the too-young age of 43. This is the way a cult figure is born. Former student
Randy Bachman
has been meticulously and methodically issuing
Breau
material through his
Guitarchives
label. This one is a 1977 live session at a Nashville, TN, club where
teams up with
Richard Cotten
, with whom he played frequently when visiting the capital of
country
music.
Country
music and Nashville notwithstanding, the album play list is a mix of classic and
standards
. One of the classic
is a moving, flowing, highly lyrical
"Stella By Starlight."
"On Green Dolphin Street"
has
starting off quiet and unassuming before he leaps off into a series of scintillating
improvisational
runs, during which you never hear anything played the same way twice. He pays tribute to one of his influences,
Bill Evans
, with the
Evans
pieces
"The Two Lonely People"
and
"La Funkallero."
made no bones about it that his unique single-string voicings were due in no little part to his transformation of
' piano technique to the guitar.
Cotten
is a fine guitarist, although here he pretty much plays rhythm to
's melody. One of the more engaging moments comes with the coda, where for almost seven minutes
's daughter
Darci Cotten
shares personal recollections, peeling away some more of the mystery surrounding this fine guitar innovator. Indications are that this CD is the first of
's Nashville performances that
Bachman
intends to get to market. One hopes that this is more than a rumor. Recommended. ~ Dave Nathan