These recordings should establish
Tal Farlow's
standing as one of the best jazz guitarists of all time. Farlow
(1921-1998) wasn't consistently active as a performer throughout much
of his adult life. In fact, his reputation is founded mainly on his
recorded and live work from the Fifties, after which he appeared on the
scene only intermittently until his death.
This 7-CD collection spanning 1951-59 is more than enough to solidify
his legacy. Farlow's career began slowly. As a teenager he picked up
tips from his father, an amateur musician, but otherwise, was
self-taught. Originally, he drew inspiration from piano titan Art Tatum,
especially Tatum's harmonic conception and use of substitute chords.
Then he was fascinated by Charlie Christian playing hornlike lines with
an electric guitar for Benny Goodman. He built his own electric guitar
and played frequently with local dance bands, influenced by Lester
Young and later Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. Farlow played gigs
in New York as early as 1947 and was with vibist Red Norvo from 1950 to
'53. He began recording with Norvo in the early Fifties, and the first
tracks on this set are with Red, playing interesting arrangements of
"Tenderly," "I Remember You," and "Skylark." The Norvo trio was an early
chamber jazz band. Like it, Farlow relied on standards in his
repertoire. Farlow sounds fine here; he'd already assimilated his
influences and developed a unique style. Perhaps the easiest way to
identify Farlow was by his amazing chops. He played rich lines even at
very fast tempos, which most guitarists could barely make. Along the way
he developed techniques of his own; he was especially good at playing
harmonics and used his thumb in a manner similar to Wes Montgomery.
(They came upon this technique independent of each other.) Here Farlow
mostly plays in trio and quartet settings with bass, piano, and drums
accompaniment. He's astounding. No matter how fast the tempos, he
improvises lines loaded with fresh ideas. He brings all registers of the
guitar into play stimulatingly and functions very well as an
accompanist. On a few selections he performs admirably on acoustic
guitar.
