Randy Langione » Les Paul

Les Paul

Young Les

Born Lester William Polsfuss on June 9, 1915 in Waukesa, Wisconsin Les Paul is a legendary American guitarist and inventor. A pioneer in the development of the solid-body electric guitar (Gibson Les Paul) he is considered “The Father” of multi-track recording, phase shifting, reverb effects, sound-on-sound, close-miking, echo and delay. As a guitarist he was greatly influenced by Django Reinhardt but eventually developed a distinctive style of his own that featured extremely rapid runs, fluttered and repeated single notes, and chunking rhythm support.

Les 2007

Mr. Paul’s legion of admirers and collaborators, through the decades, is a Who’s Who of the international popular music scene including Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Nat Cole, Jimmy Hendrix, Tony Bennett, BB King, Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Eddie Van Halen, Jeff Beck, George Benson, Al DiMeola, Pat Martino & Keith Richards, etc.

At 92, Les is still going strong…hosting his long running Monday Nights at Iridium Jazz Club in New York City. It’s been my honor to perform there, with him, on several occasions. Displayed below are some photos and a video from a recent memorable visit: June 25, 2007.