Kenny Malone

Lenny Breau: Swingin' on a Seven-String

by John Kelman
June 25, 2005

While guitarist Lenny Breau's innovations may not seem so significant now, he was like a bolt of lightning when he emerged in the '70s out of Manitoba, Canada. A true self-accompanist who integrated virtuosic skills in jazz, country, and flamenco into an unmistakable voice, Breau made his guitar sound like an ensemble. Legend has it that Chet Atkins was walking down the hall of a Nashville studio and, hearing music coming out of one of the rooms, said to himself, ...