The Musical Box

les paul at the iridium.

During a series of New York trips taken during the winter months over the past seven years or so, I made the Broadway jazz club Iridium a regular destination. My excursions were invariably on weekends. But the Iridium beckoned all patrons to stay over until Monday. That night, week after week, belonged to the vanguard guitarist Les Paul. My travel plans never allowed for that. But many times I wondered what the mood was like on Monday nights, with Broadway theatres traditionally dark and the great Les lighting up the Iridium.

Paul died today at the age 94. A landmark innovator as an instrumentalist, recording artist and vocalist, Paul’s legacy will always be his pioneering use of electric guitar. The solid body electric model guitar that Paul eventually gave his name to - the Gibson Les Paul - was a sleek, powerful and efficient instrument adaptable to playing jazz, rock and pop. Paul himself used variations of it for hits that date back to the ‘50s. But as his own career began to wind down in the ‘60s, an entire rock ‘n’ roll generation embraced Paul’s creation. Among the artists to crack thunder with the Gibson Les Paul as their signature guitar were Pete Townshend and Jimmy Page.

Paul’s recordings, from the ‘50s on, generally took a back seat to his guitar innovations. But a prime recommendation for curious listeners is 1975’s Chester and Lester, a warm, unimposing collaboration with another guitar giant, Chet Atkins.

Or if you feel like waking up the neighbors, slip on the remarkable 2008 DVD release The Who Live at Kilburn 1977 and watch Townshend turn an arsenal of Gibson Les Pauls into dangerous weapons indeed.