COMPOSERS: Martin Taylor
LABELS: Linn
WORKS: Portraits
PERFORMER: Martin Taylor (g); Chet Atkins (g)
CATALOGUE NO: AKD 048 (distr. Polygram)
Whether you judge a guitarist by the company he keeps or by his ability to perform in exposed solo spots, Taylor comes top on all counts. Playing solo gigs, standing at the front of the stage, his easy lyricism can hold an otherwise noisy club crowd in rapt silence. As a measure of the wide respect Taylor has earned at the highest levels, he has frequently shared concert stages with Stéphane Grappelli and Yehudi Menuhin, for example. In Portraits, a string of standards, he is joined by picker Chet Atkins, and also his own overdubs, for some numbers. Actually Taylor needs neither here: he can convey melody, rhythm and bass lines simultaneously with indecent ease and no help. At times he’s almost too good to be true. Garry Booth
Martin Taylor
Whether you judge a guitarist by the company he keeps or by his ability to perform in exposed solo spots, Taylor comes top on all counts. Playing solo gigs, standing at the front of the stage, his easy lyricism can hold an otherwise noisy club crowd in rapt silence. As a measure of the wide respect Taylor has earned at the highest levels, he has frequently shared concert stages with Stéphane Grappelli and Yehudi Menuhin, for example. In Portraits, a string of standards, he is joined by picker Chet Atkins, and also his own overdubs, for some numbers.
Our rating
4
Published: January 20, 2012 at 3:07 pm