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.
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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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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