Howard Mandel sparked a back-and-forth about Les Paul on Facebook that had Claire Daly recalling one of Paul’s favorite gags: He’d sing “Happy Birthday” to some lucky audience member, and on the final “You!”, he’d give that person the finger.
Which reminded me: Two years prior to my JVC Jazz Festival piece, I covered Les’s 88th birthday celebration at the Iridium for Down Beat. It was more like a roast, as Les gently mocked every star guitarist who ascended the stage.
Al Di Meola was the only guest player who did not jam with the house band. Instead, his was a virtuosic solo piece, “Orient Blue Suite,” unapologetically self-indulgent, full of rococo phrasing and impossible arpeggios, a technically dazzling feat. When it was over, Les said, “Well, they’re not gonna go out of here humming the thing, heh?”
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