Portraits - Martin Taylor

Martin Taylor is one of the - if not the - best jazz guitarists in the world. And that is not me talking, it is as voted, repeatedly, by jazz fans.

He came to fame when he released his first album, "Taylor Made", in 1978 and was invited to tour with the great Stefan Grapelli, a partnership which continued through the 1980s.

Taylor played on a number of albums with Stefan Grapelli but also went on to release ...
...mainly solo. He has also worked with a number of other great musicians such as Chet Atkins (who features on three of the tracks on Portraits)

Taylor is a self taught guitarist; he has developed a unique style of playing in which he picks several parts simultaneously. Listening to a solo piece, hearing a bass line, rhythm part and a lead melody all going at the same time, you would believe that there is more than one guitar at work. ... more

Martin Taylor is one of the - if not the - best jazz guitarists in the world. And that is not me talking, it is as voted, repeatedly, by jazz fans.

He came to fame when he released his first album, "Taylor Made", in 1978 and was invited to tour with the great Stefan Grapelli, a partnership which continued through the 1980s.

Taylor played on a number of albums with Stefan Grapelli but also went on to release several albums himself, some with his own band and others mainly solo. He has also worked with a number of other great musicians such as Chet Atkins (who features on three of the tracks on Portraits)

Taylor is a self taught guitarist; he has developed a unique style of playing in which he picks several parts simultaneously. Listening to a solo piece, hearing a bass line, rhythm part and a lead melody all going at the same time, you would believe that there is more than one guitar at work. However, it is all him. When I first saw him play live, I could hardly believe that this was just one guitarist alone.

There is a story that he was voted "Best guitarist" by readers of a jazz magazine so many times that in the end they excluded him from the nominations! He has also won Best British Jazz Artist 7 years in a row

"Portraits" contains 14 tracks of which nine are solo; on two tracks he records two guitar parts; three are
duets with another legendary jazz guitarist, Chet Atkins.

To help the listener know whether there really are two guitars, or whether it is just him, the track listing on the back of the CD mentions after each whether it is "Solo", "Atkins & Taylot Duet", or "Taylor Duet Overdub" - he played another track alongside his first recording.

The album opens with two solo tracks, the up-tempo "Shiny Stockings" and the slower "Like Someone In Love". These set the mood for the rest of the album, showing what he can do alone.

These are followed by "Sweet Lorraine", the first of three duets with Chet Atkins. The two guitar maestros complement each other, giving each other space to solo and also to bring up the rhythm.

"I Got Rhythm" is the first track where Taylor really shows what he can do, and why he is recognised as being so damn good. He starts slowly, teasing the melody, before launching into a fast, complicated bass line with the lower strings then, when you are already impressed, he lays down a melody over the top, and goes on to turn in a solo as well.

"Why Did I choose You" slows things down, a more meandering and mellow piece, before his first overdub duet, playing with himself so to speak, "My Funny Valentine". This is a beautiful piece, mostly played with one guitar, but he overdubs a few melodies and lead breaks over the top.

"Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans?" is the second duet with Chet Atkins, and in this one, while it is still clean and crisp,both of them take more advantage of the opportunity to solo over each other.

"I Remember Clifford" is another slow solo, before Taylor launches into the second frenetic solo number, "Ol' Man River". This starts slowly, with a slightly rambling intro, then the the bass line starts rumbling fast and furious and the melody is picked out on chords over the top. It is hard to believe there are not two guitars in there.

The final duet with Atkins is "Here, There and Everywhere", a Lennon and McCartney song, played slowly and with reverance. "In A Mellow Tone", on the other hand, is far from mellow, and again Taylor blows us away with a rhythm and lead played simultaneously with one hand.

The second self-overdub is "My One and Only Love", a slow and elaborate twin layer of duelling guitars, before launching into my personal favourite.

"Kiko" is a stunning solo guitar song, which just sings of Hawaii. I challenge anyone to listen to this and not think of sunny beaches and girls in bikinis hanging a lei round your neck. and I challenge any guitarist to listen to this and not ask, "how the **** did he do that?", especially when he hits the harmonics.

The album draws a slow close with "Very Early", which sounds of course like an early morning but the soft opening notes speed up to give way to a more mid/up-tempo finale.

To summarise - an exceptional album by an exceptionally talented musician. Although it is strictly jazz, it should appeal to any guitarist as well as the jazz fan - after all, my first love is 80s rock, but I rate this album very highly too! The highlights for me are "I Got Rhythm", "Ol' Man River", and "Kiko" but others will no doubt find their own favourites. It is definitely "warts and all"; there are a few bum notes and dead notes dotted around, specially in the solo sections, but this makes it all the more genuine and listenable.

If you like jazz, or guitar music, then this is for you.
If you play guitar, then get this and hear what you could be doing!

Enjoy!
 

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