by Dr. Matthew Warnock.

Lenny Breau & Brad Terry: Live at the Maine Festival is the latest DVD release from Art of Life Records. The DVD aims to provide an up close and personal look at this dynamic, though often overlooked, guitar and clarinet duo. Up until this point in time, any fan of the Breau-Terry duo had to be content with one live release, The Complete Living Room Tapes, which features the duo jamming during a house concert. With new archival performance footage from the 1980 Maine Festival, an interview with Terry, high-resolution audio files of two duo tracks and a complete discography of all of Lenny's recordings as both a sideman and leader, this DVD package showcases these two extraordinary musicians in a new and evocative fashion.

The concert footage on the DVD consists of two extended versions of the jazz classics "Emily" and "Autumn Leaves" totaling nearly twenty minutes of video. Both tunes can be found on the second disc of the reissued double CD The Complete Living Room Tapes and will provide fans of the duo with a new look into their interpretations of each piece. Both players are at the top of their games on each of these two tracks. Lenny, who uses his guitar case as a footstool for some unexplained reason, maintains a focused approach in both his comping and soloing, something that has been lacking in several other of his live recordings. Not to be outdone, Terry highlights his diversity as a woodwind performer by using his clarinet as both a soloing and comping instrument. He not only improvises solos on the clarinet, but walks bass lines behind Lenny's single-note solos as well. While there are several moments that stand out during these tunes, none can match Terry's remarkable whistling solo during "Emily." His incredible range and ability to whistle complex bebop lines and melodic statements, transform this often "campy" skill into an instrument of complexity and dynamic musicality.

Besides the original concert footage, the DVD also includes valuable bonus material. One extra feature is an interview with Terry conducted around the same time as the concert was filmed. While fans of Terry's music, and jazz fans in general, will enjoy this addition to the DVD, people who are looking to derive insight into Terry's relationship with Breau, or any background on their recordings together, may be disappointed. Sadly the interview never mentions Lenny or his relationship to Terry. What the eight-minute interview consists of is a few short quotes from Terry about how he started playing clarinet, and how he approaches jazz, mixed with footage of his quartet playing Duke Ellington's "C Jam Blues." This section of the DVD then ends with Terry improvising atop a rock in the woods. While entertaining, the interview leaves the viewer wishing there had been more interview and less performance during this section of the video.

In contrast to the interview, the audio tracks add a welcomed second dimension to the video sections of the DVD. The first high-resolution recording is an up-tempo version of "Limehouse Blues," complete with Lenny laughing at the end of the track and exclaiming, "Forget it, man!" Hearing Lenny's voice provides a level of intimacy for the casual listener, as well as an enjoyable moment for die-hard Lenny fans. As was the case in the concert footage, both musicians perform expertly in their interpretation of this standard blues tune. One of the reasons why this duo has become so popular among jazz fans, and why some may be disappointed in the DVD's 40-minute run time, is their ability to communicate on such a high musical level. There are no awkward moments of transition between solos, and both musicians know when the moment is right to either comp or simply lay out and let the other musician take the reigns. The best example of this comes in the second audio track, a rubato version of "Make Someone Happy." Here, both musicians rely on their ears and intuition to guide them through the music as the time ebbs and flows during the melody sections of the song. Moments like this one surely leave fans wishing that this duo had been able to record at least one or two more records while Lenny was still on this earth.

The last bonus feature included on the DVD is a complete discography of Lenny Breau as both a leader and a sideman, including all records that were released posthumously. The discography provides an excellent source of information for Lenny's fans, as well as newcomers to his music who may not be aware of his recorded history. People unfamiliar with Lenny's work may be surprised to see how many recordings he made as a leader, as well as the number of famous musicians he recorded with, especially his long standing personal and professional relationship with Chet Atkins.

Overall, Live at the Maine Festival is an enjoyable watch with a little bit of something for both fans and casual listeners alike. Terry and Lenny's playing is exceptional on both the video and audio tracks, although the bonus material may not live up to the hype it receives on the back of the box. With a total of 40 minutes of film and audio combined, this DVD will leave fans wanting more, and hoping that this is only the beginning of a series of archival footage being released by Art of Life Records, and not the series itself.

Related Link:
Lenny Breau & Brad Terry: Live at the Maine Festival at Art of Life Records