PAUL VERNON CHESTER

Manouche Maestro

Martin Taylor - MBE

Martin Taylor was born in Harlow Essex in 1956 into a family with a musical heritage and a gypsy/traveller tradition, although he did not strictly lead the traditional gypsy lifestyle. At the age of 4 he received his first guitar from his father, bassist William ‘Buck’ Taylor. His father frequently played the music of the Quintette du Hot Club de France and Taylor became inspired by their legendary guitarist Django Reinhardt. At age 8 he was playing regularly in his father’s band and at 15 he quit school intent on becoming a professional musician.  Over the next few years Taylor played in numerous bands, in holiday camps, various radio dates and on cruise ships (one cruise lead to the personal highlight of jamming with the Count Basie orchestra). Performing dates in and around London soon brought him into contact with fellow jazz guitarist Ike Isaacs who took the younger man under his wing. In addition to performing with Taylor as a duet, Isaacs helped develop his sense of jazz harmony and started him on the road to developing his unique fingerstyle technique.  Taylor puts his musical talent down to beginning to learn guitar at an early age, playing frequently and also having many musicians on his father's side of the family.

Martin Taylor with Ade Holland: Wallingford

Martin Taylor on Django with others

Interview

How old were you when you got your 1st guitar, and what type was it?

I was 4 years old when I got my first guitar. I had a ukelele before that but was very keen to get a guitar, so my dad went along to Pettycoat Lane Market in the East End of London and bought me a half size Russian made acoustic guitar with metal strings. It was a terrible instrument of torture that used to make my fingers bleed. It's amazing that it didn't put me off playing the guitar for life.
Age       Height      Guitar Size
11+     5' or taller       Full
8-11    4'6" to 4'11"    3/4
5-8     3'10" to 4'5"    1/2
3-5     3'3" to 3'9"      1/4

Who was the most influential person in your life?

There were at least four people that figured very strongly in my life. My father, Buck Taylor, was a jazz double bass player and it was my dad that introduced me to jazz from the day I was born. In particular Django Reinhardt. My dad was an English Romany Gypsy and was crazy about Django.  The next person was Ike Isaacs. He was a great guitarist. Originally from Burma, he came to London in 1948 and joined the BBC Radio Show Band.  I'd already been playing the guitar for 15 years when I met him but was just blown away when I heard him play and realised I had so much to learn.  When I was 18 I did the opening set for Barney Kessel at the 100 Club, in London's Oxford Street. We became good friends and I worked with for many years.

 In 1979 I started to tour with Stephane Grappelli and worked with him for eleven years. It was an amazing musical experience and a totally unique life experience.  I owe a lot to these people, but also there were guitar hero's of mine that I got to work with and became great friends, like Joe Pass, Herb Ellis, Charlie Byrd and Tal Farlow.

What was the most rewarding moment in your life?

Going to Buckingham Palace in 2002 to receive my MBE from the Queen for Services to Jazz. It was a surreal moment, and one that I will always treasure.

What make is your guitar and what do you like most about it?

I have two working guitars both made by Mike Vanden in Strontian, Scotland. The model is called the Vanden "Martin Taylor Artistry" and we spent a lot of time working together designing it.

What I like most about it is that it is a small bodied jazz guitar that's comfortable to play, it has a great woody sound but also has a lot of bass and nice high frequencies. Also, we designed it so that it has more sustain than most jazz archtops.

Mike and Martin have enjoyed a long association based on a mutual deep affection for the arch-top jazz guitar. For many years they have discussed combining their desires and skills to produce a new yet classical looking guitar.

They were determined to develop an integrated design concept for the instrument to work as a whole, including a dual pick-up system. For ease of playing, Martin wanted an instrument with a 15" body, but without sacrificing acoustic performance, equally suitable for fingerstyle or for using a pick. The Matin taylor 'Artistry'
Vanden 'Artistry' Tour 

Name a piece of music or song that changed your life, and tell us why?

"Once Upon a Time in America" by Ennio Morroconi. In 2005 my younger son took his own life. I was devastated by it, and became very ill for a couple of years. For the first time in my life the music in my head stopped. This is the first piece of music I can remember hearing when I started to recover and feel it played a major part in me getting well again.  Once Upon a Time in America 

If you could perform with any musician in the world, who would you choose and why?

Tony Bennett. He's always been my favourite singer.
Self Portraits Tony Bennett

What was the worst thing that has happened to you on stage?

I was playing a big concert with Stephane Grappelli at the Royal Festival Hall, London back in the 80's. Michel LeGrand was conducting the London Philharmonia Orchestra. I was sitting centre stage next to Stephane, surrounded by the London Philharmonic Orchestra and with Michel LeGrand standing just to the side of us. Stephane asked me to play an improvised out of tempo introduction then to give the nod to Michel when I was finished so he could give the Orchestra the downbeat with his baton. Fine no problem, I thought. I played the first 3 or 4 notes, there was a terrible crackling noise, and my amp died on me. This is the kind of scenario that all guitarists dread, but to make things even more horrific, this was in front of an audience of 5,000 people and an estimated TV audience of 3 million for the live broadcast. I still wake up screaming in the night about that one! 

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Last modified: 13/09/2011