Chance Meeting
Encyclopedia
Chance Meeting is an album by jazz guitarists Tal Farlow
and Lenny Breau
, released in 1997.
documentary, it was suggested to Farlow that he be paired with a younger jazz guitarist. He suggested Breau and the two guitarists performed this set at a small nightclub in Rumson, New Jersey. It was their first and only performance together.
, critic Jim Ferguson
wrote "The mutual admiration between the players is obvious throughout the nine impromptu performances,.. More than sophisticated chordal structures and harmonics, the thing that these two geniuses-a generation apart-really have in common is the music, which eloquently speaks for itself."
Production notes:
Tal Farlow
Talmage Holt Farlow was an American jazz guitarist. Nicknamed the "Octopus", Farlow's extremely large hands spread over the fretboard as if they were tentacles. He is considered one of the all-time great jazz guitarists. Michael G...
and Lenny Breau
Lenny Breau
Leonard Harold "Lenny" Breau was a musician, guitar player, and music educator. He was known for blending many styles of music including: jazz, country, classical and flamenco guitar...
, released in 1997.
History
While being profiled in a PBSPublic Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
documentary, it was suggested to Farlow that he be paired with a younger jazz guitarist. He suggested Breau and the two guitarists performed this set at a small nightclub in Rumson, New Jersey. It was their first and only performance together.
Reception
In his review for Allmusic, music critic Ken Dryden wrote the musicians "complement one another's playing as if they had worked as a regular duo. Breau, on his seven-string guitar, is a bundle of energy most of the time, with flurries of notes accompanied by his flawless rhythm. Of course, the senior player is no slouch as a soloist on any of the eight standards heard on this CD... It's too bad that this enjoyable session was only a one-time affair." In reviewing the release for JazzTimesJazzTimes
JazzTimes is a magazine that dates back to Radio Free Jazz, a publication founded in 1970 by Ira Sabin when he was operating a record store in Washington, DC. It was originally a newsletter designed to update shoppers on the latest jazz releases and provide jazz radio programmers with a means of...
, critic Jim Ferguson
Jim Ferguson
Jim Ferguson is an American guitarist, composer, music educator, author, and music journalist/editor.Born in Dayton, Ohio, Jim Ferguson began his early music education playing the trombone at age 7, and then after eight years of study, switched to the guitar at age 15...
wrote "The mutual admiration between the players is obvious throughout the nine impromptu performances,.. More than sophisticated chordal structures and harmonics, the thing that these two geniuses-a generation apart-really have in common is the music, which eloquently speaks for itself."
Track listing
- "I Love YouI Love You (Cole Porter song)"I Love You" is a song written by Cole Porter in 1944 for his stage musical Mexican Hayride. It was popularized by Bing Crosby in the same year...
" (Cole PorterCole PorterCole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, he defied the wishes of his domineering grandfather and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn towards musical theatre...
) – 5:24 - "Satin DollSatin Doll"Satin Doll" is a jazz standard written by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn with lyrics by Johnny Mercer. Written in 1953, the song has been recorded countless times, by such artists as Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, 101 Strings, and Nancy Wilson...
" (Duke EllingtonDuke EllingtonEdward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
, Billy StrayhornBilly StrayhornWilliam Thomas "Billy" Strayhorn was an American composer, pianist and arranger, best known for his successful collaboration with bandleader and composer Duke Ellington lasting nearly three decades. His compositions include "Chelsea Bridge", "Take the "A" Train" and "Lush Life".-Early...
, Johnny MercerJohnny MercerJohn Herndon "Johnny" Mercer was an American lyricist, songwriter and singer. He is best known as a lyricist, but he also composed music. He was also a popular singer who recorded his own songs as well as those written by others...
) – 7:03 - "My Funny ValentineMy Funny Valentine"My Funny Valentine" is a show tune from the 1937 Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart musical Babes in Arms in which it was introduced by former child star Mitzi Green...
" (Richard RodgersRichard RodgersRichard Charles Rodgers was an American composer of music for more than 900 songs and for 43 Broadway musicals. He also composed music for films and television. He is best known for his songwriting partnerships with the lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II...
, Lorenz HartLorenz HartLorenz "Larry" Milton Hart was the lyricist half of the famed Broadway songwriting team Rodgers and Hart...
) – 8:40 - "All the Things You AreAll the Things You Are"All the Things You Are" is a song composed by Jerome Kern, with lyrics written by Oscar Hammerstein II.It was written for the musical Very Warm for May , where it was introduced by Hiram Sherman, Frances Mercer, Hollace Shaw, and Ralph Stuart...
" (Oscar Hammerstein IIOscar Hammerstein IIOscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II was an American librettist, theatrical producer, and theatre director of musicals for almost forty years. Hammerstein won eight Tony Awards and was twice awarded an Academy Award for "Best Original Song". Many of his songs are standard repertoire for...
, Jerome KernJerome KernJerome David Kern was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over 100 stage works, including such classics as "Ol' Man River", "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man", "A...
) – 11:33 - "Conversation" (Farlow, Breau) – 2:34
- "Cherokee" (Ray NobleRay Noble (musician)Ray Noble was an English bandleader, composer, arranger and actor. Noble studied music at the Royal Academy of Music and became leader of the HMV Records studio band in 1929. The band, known as the New Mayfair Dance Orchestra, featured members of many of the top hotel orchestras of the day...
) – 4:30 - "What Is This Thing Called Love?What Is This Thing Called Love?"What Is This Thing Called Love?"is a 1929 popular song written by Cole Porter, for the musical Wake Up and Dream. It was first performed by Elsie Carlisle in March 1929. The song has become a popular jazz standard and one of Porter's most often played compositions.Wake Up and Dream ran for 263...
" (Porter) – 6:56 - "Broadway" (Billy Bird, Teddy McRaeTeddy McRaeTeddy McRae was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and arranger.McRae was born in Philadelphia and played with local ensembles, including one composed of family members, when young. He played with June Clark in 1926 before moving to New York City to found his own band...
, Wood) – 6:03 - "My Foolish HeartMy Foolish Heart (song)"My Foolish Heart" is a popular song that was published in 1949.The music was written by Victor Young and the lyrics by Ned Washington. The song was introduced by the singer Martha Mears in the 1949 film of the same name. The song failed to escape critics' general laceration of the film...
" (Ned WashingtonNed WashingtonNed Washington was an American lyricist.-Biography:Washington was nominated for eleven Academy Awards from 1940 to 1962...
, Victor YoungVictor YoungVictor Young was an American composer, arranger, violinist and conductor. He was born in Chicago.-Biography:...
) – 7:00
Personnel
- Tal Farlow – guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
- Lenny BreauLenny BreauLeonard Harold "Lenny" Breau was a musician, guitar player, and music educator. He was known for blending many styles of music including: jazz, country, classical and flamenco guitar...
– guitar - Lyn ChristieLyn ChristieDr. Lyn Christie is a jazz double bassist. Born in Australia, he became a medical doctor and played in the Australian jazz scene until he moved to New York City in the mid 1960s. There he initially worked as a medical doctor, continued to play jazz and attended the Juilliard School of Music...
– bassDouble bassThe double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
on "All the Things You Are" and "Cherokee" - Nat Garratano – drums on "All the Things You Are" and "Cherokee"
Production notes:
- Randy BachmanRandy BachmanRandolph Charles "Randy" Bachman, OC, OM is a Canadian musician best known as lead guitarist, songwriter and a founding member for both the 1960s–70s rock band The Guess Who, and the 1970s rock band Bachman–Turner Overdrive...
– executive producer - John Dildine – engineer