Number 3 The Teacher of My Teacher’s Guitar

I’ve mentioned the great San Francisco guitarist, Eddie Duran, who I often call my “Root Guru” Eddie used to let me sit in with him in the early 70’s in clubs in North Beach, and at a club called The Red Chimney, where he had a steady gig with his brother Manny on keyboards. I was a young, fiery fusion guitar player, probably considered a little wild, and it was a stamp of approval, or at least a sign that I might turn out to be an OK musician, for Eddie to let me sit in with him. He would usually call All Blues, I assumed because it was modal, and would be hard for me to completely ruin. He was always very kind and gracious. We never spoke about it, but I knew he was consciously extending the tradition of letting younger jazz musicians jam with their elders, and learn. (I would take what I thought was a pretty hot solo, only to have it rendered irrelevant with the first few bars of Eddie’s). Over the years we’ve often played at the same clubs, and I try to see him play as often as possible. At 86 he’s still going strong, gigging with his wife Mad, a sax and flute player. A few years ago I was in a used instrument store south of Market St. There was a 1938 Gibson ES100, completely beaten to death, on the wall, with and Eddie Duran Stan /Getz LP cover stuck through the strings. I asked if it was Eddie’s guitar, it looked like the one he used to play at The Red Chimney. The owner assured me it was, and in fact was asking about double what the instrument was worth if it was in perfect condition. After confirming with Eddie that it was his instrument (and declining his kind offer to sell it to me directly) I went back to the store and bought it. It had an incredibly sweet old tone, although I was afraid it would disintegrate in my hands. I took it to my master luthier friend Al Milburn to restore, and he’s still working on it. I called up Eddie, and in detailing the restoration, asked him how and when he had acquired it. “It was given to me by the widow of Paul Smith”, he said. I was speechless. Paul Smith was a legendary SF guitarist in the 50’s, killed (I think by a cab) at a fairly young age on his way to a gig. My guitar teacher, David L. Smith, (no relation) had studied with Paul Smith. So, not only had I purchased my mentor’s guitar, I had purchased the teacher of my teacher’s guitar!



“These instruments all have stories…”

- George Gruhn