After watching that guitarist with Suzanne Vega in yesterday’s post about her new album, Tales From the Realm of the Queen of Pentacles, I got thinking, Gerry Leonard … Gerry Leonard … hmmm … and look:

Aha! He’s David Bowie’s guitarist/collaborator on The Next Day, Bowie’s excellent album released in 2013 (discussed here and here: Bowie ‘Lost is Love’ remix) as well as on Bowie’s albums Heathen & Reality and musical director on Bowie’s highly-rated Reality tour & DVD.

Of course.* Small world. Wikipedia says:

New York’s East Village was the next stop for Leonard, where he established himself as a solo performer, producer, and as an in-demand session player. He has recorded and toured, usually as lead guitarist, with Duncan Sheik, Laurie Anderson, Jonatha Brooke, Cyndi Lauper, Sophie B. Hawkins, Avril Lavigne and Chris Botti, among others. He works a lot with Suzanne Vega, touring with her effectively as a duo. In addition to playing guitar for Rufus Wainwright, Leonard was the musical director for Wainwright’s Milwaukee at Last!!! tour and subsequent live album.
As a producer, Leonard has worked on albums for artists such as Donna Lewis (In the Pink), Ari Hest (The Fire Plays), Donnie Mortimer (Ten Eventful Years), the Czech band Čechomor (Mistečko), and Pamela Sue Mann. Of his playing on the latter’s L’Oeuf, Laurie Anderson said “I’ve always been a fan of Gerry Leonard’s lush and groovy parts so that makes the listening experience even deeper.”

Nice to see Laurie Anderson mentioned. I saw her Live in the Wellington Town Hall, when I only knew her for ‘O Superman’. Great concert. Later connections to Peter Gabriel and Lou Reed felt circular and on that note … here’s a nice video of Suzanne Vega opening for Lou Reed at Montreux in 2004 … ‘Small Blue Thing’

– P

* Rolling Stone Feb 2013: David Bowie Guitarist Gerry Leonard: ‘Odds of a Tour Are 50-50’ (Worth a click for the embedded videos.)

Quirky note from Wikipedia: “In 2013, [Gerry Leonard] participated in an April Fools’ Day spoof involving an announcement that Bowie would be representing Germany in that year’s Eurovision Song Contest.”
Nice one.