I saw a tribute to Jeff Beck online by Rod Stewart, Ron Wood and Eric Clapton. I don’t associate any of those three with Jeff Beck’s musical aesthetic but whatever, it was virtuous and they were buds. I never understood Jeff Beck’s technique, not using a pick but it sure works incredibly. Just for my hack style of guitar it makes no sense. Online viewing him playing the Beatles, A Day in The Life, sounds as great as all of his other works. From footage in Japan a year ago, months before he died. One wonders why he selected that song particularly. Sentimental about the 60s or friends with the fab four? Such a remarkable tone from just finger picking. Same for Albert Lee and Roy Buchanan.

At one point his left hand is not on the fretboard but his picking finger is moving and somehow we hear a single note bending up and down. it confuses me. Roy Buchanan’s gestures sounded similar. Jeff Beck even dedicates one of the iconic Blow by Blow songs to Roy Buchanan. When I was a teenager, I met his manager, Steve something or other. It was exciting. An actual person from the music business. That summer Mel Hornstein hired me to be a supervisor at the summer camp in Kenora and they had money to send a musician to New York to attend a Hebrew song workshop. I still remember a shy awkward girl with braces singing something brilliant because it went from A major to A minor. I had not yet considered breaking those rules.

Steve something or other was one of the people who taught us, though what exactly we were taught is fuzzy to me now. I only remember his association with Roy Buchanan and realizing his management career was over because Roy took his life. Besides Steve something or other, when I was a kid I met three other music industry people. On an airplane one time I had a conversation with a hippie sitting next to me. By the end of the flight he said he played in Steppenwolf. Maybe so. In Israel I met Billy Hart who was on tour drumming with Stan Getz, that was amazing. I tried to impress him saying I listen to Return To Forever and when I added liking Lenny White’s drumming, “shit, who do you think taught him?” he said as though I put a lemon in his mouth. In Winnipeg during the Jazzmobile tour I attended a piano workshop with Stanley Cowell, monster of monsters. I still think about the ways he spoke about using one’s left hand on piano.