| "Minors Aloud" was recorded at Pete's Place in Nashville, Tennessee on August 7th & 8th, 1978 and originally released the same year on LP on Flying Fish Records. The album features several Jazz standards including Charlie Parker's Scrapple From the Apple and Benny Golson's Killer Joe in addition to the title track co-written by Buddy and Lenny. The closing track, Lenny Breau's composition, On a Bach Bouree, based upon J.S. Bach's Bouree in E Minor, is a perfect symbiosis of Jazz meets Classical. Buddy and Lenny are joined by acoustic bassist Charles Dungey, keyboardist Randy Goodrum and drummer Kenny Malone. The 6-page CD booklet includes the original album cover artwork and liner notes exactly as they appeared on the original LP release as well as new liner notes written by Buddy Emmons. Also included is a copy of the lead sheet for the title track handwritten by Lenny Breau himself! All tracks have been digitally remastered from the original analog master tapes using 24-bit digital technology.
Liner Notes
The "Minors Aloud" album has been a sentimental favorite of mine not only for having shared it with a dear friend, Lenny Breau, but for the way it came about.
During my tenure with the Flying Fish label in the seventies, producer Mike Melford asked me if I would be interested in recording with Lenny Breau. My response was a quick yes but on the condition that Lenny would be the featured artist and I'd be listed as a guest. My previous Flying Fish albums were not exactly mainstream Jazz and I felt that Lenny's vast musical vocabulary would be better served if he chose and arranged all of the tunes. Mike said it was fine by him.
The night before the recording date, Mike met Lenny at the Nashville airport and brought him to my house. On our way to the music room I asked Lenny what songs he had for the album and his answer was, "I don't have anything man. What have you got?" A hot flash hit me and I had to tell him I didn't have anything either. With a limited amount of time set in the studio the next day, thoughts of disaster started swarming through my head. Lenny just cackled and said, "Well then, let's set up and pick some tunes."
My first choice was Scrapple From the Apple and Lenny followed with a blues tune he created around a pet riff consisting of fifth intervals. We named it Minors Aloud and moved on. I remember Lenny's cool demeanor having a lifting effect on me. A couple of hours and a few laughs later I was beginning to feel we could actually pull this thing off. We began around seven o'clock that evening and shortly after midnight, we had an album. Ten o'clock the next morning, we were in the studio.
I learned later that Lenny hadn't been told anything about the project other than to just show up. With a few days preparation and a little polish to the arrangements, this would have been a different album. For better or worse we'll never know, but I do know the solos were spontaneous, the energy level was fantastic, and we all had a great time getting there. Looking back, I wouldn't have it any other way.
Buddy Emmons
February 2005 |
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