Martin Taylor - Standards UK Tour
The Salutation Hotel, Perth, 30/05/26
Martin Taylor (jazz guitar)
My final report from this year’s Perth Festival of the Arts is from the night of 30th May in the Salutation Hotel, where virtuoso of fingerstyle jazz guitar, Martin Taylor, presented fresh and evocative arrangements of classic tunes from the Great American Songbook and the Golden Age of Jazz, interspersed with stories, quips, autobiographical anecdotes and insights from a career spanning six decades, including collaborations with Stéphane Grappelli, Tommy Emmanuel, Chet Atkins, and many of the world’s greatest jazz musicians. Unsurprisingly, the concert was very well attended.
“Let’s start by getting a groove on”, sounded like a plan and it was vindicated by a breezy take on Jesse Harris’ 1999 ‘Don't Know Why’, flanked by a smooth intro and finish, with a nod to Norah Jones’ 2002 cover on her debut album. Chet Baker’s ‘Like Someone in Love’ followed, in an arrangement that started smooth and smoky, but turned hot in a scalp-tingling way and channelled a Grappelli/Reinhardt vibe. Delicious. Inspired in his youth by the Hot Club sound, Martin later toured with Grappelli, occupying the chair associated with Django himself. The more wistful, nostalgic side of Grappelli’s art shone in the next number, the gorgeous melody of Henry Mancini’s title song for the 1967 movie starring Albert Finney and Audrey Hepburn, ‘Two for the Road’, often performed by the great jazz violinist.
The emotional heart of the first half came next in the form of Martin’s own composition, ‘The Fair-Haired Child’, dedicated to the memory of his son Stewart who died tragically young. The 2012 BBC Proms included a late-night concert commemorating Reinhardt’s legacy following the centenary two years earlier. The ‘Spirit of Django’ Suite, comprising six of Martin’s compositions arranged by childhood friend Guy Barker (who, unlike Martin, can read and write music) was performed by the Britten Sinfonia, the Guy Barker Jazz Orchestra and Martin’s own ‘Spirit of Django’ group. We heard a more intimate and touching solo performance of the fifth number from the suite, ‘The Fair-Haired Child’, with a gorgeous melody that reminded me of ‘A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square’. Recalling the friendship of French singer/composer Sacha Distel (and mentioning that he was also a capable jazz guitarist – who knew?), the mood shifted with Sacha’s classic popularised by Tony Bennett, ‘The Good Life’. Another Bennett standard, with (catchy) music by Neal Hefti and (dreadfully misogynistic) lyrics by Bobby Troup, ‘Girl Talk’, was scrumptious, with Martin quipping “it’s just as well I can’t sing”. I’ve known that song, in a 6-part Patrick Gowers arrangement, as “Side 1, Track 1” on the 1974 King’s Singers vinyl album ‘Out of the Blue’ (which I still possess) and can confirm that the lyrics are cringeful, as is admitting that I remember them. Originally planned as a rock ballad, the charming ‘True’ (eventually finding an unlikely inclusion in the soundtrack of an obscure Japanese boxing film) was simple, dreamy and gentle. The first half concluded with a stylish, dynamic, sashaying salsa reading of the Roger Nichols melody in the Carpenters classic ‘I Won't Last a Day Without You’. A chance to marvel at the mind-blowing technique, with independent dynamic voicing of the chordal and contrapuntal elements in some fast-running figurations, sounding like a band of many individuals. Phenomenal.
“Anybody like Frank Sinatra?” clearly receiving the predictable response from an audience in the palm of the performer’s hand, 'They Can't Take That Away From Me' bowled along with a spring in its gleeful step to open the second half. Martin’s arrangement of ‘The Dolphin’ by Luiz Eca followed a rhapsodic improvisatory introspective intro with a breezier salsa-syncopated main part, concluding with shimmering harmonics like wind chimes. A Victor Young standard, ‘Stella by Starlight’, was introduced as a Michael Parkinson fave and, on that basis, I’m happy to acknowledge that Parkie had good taste. Music from the movie ‘The Uninvited’. Introduced as a “Mindfulness Moment”, the Stylistics’ classic ‘You Make Me Feel Brand New’ was a dreamy chilled interlude, followed by Martin’s comment: “You should be able to get that on the NHS”. Soul music to heal the body? Well, why not? The next piece launched and stopped. “Wish I hadn’t started that”, Martin said with a wink. But he started it again, a very fancy intro with rapidly arpeggiated complex shifting jazz chords, despite the slow tempo, quite magical. The main melody was dreamy and ornamented at first, then a confident striding tune with a spring in its step. I didn’t catch its name but am willing to hazard a guess as Jerome Kern’s ‘I’m Old Fashioned’. Delightful.
Another “Mindfulness Moment” arrived in the shape of ‘Someday My Prince Will Come’, Frank Churchill’s sweet melody, slow and dreamy at first, then breezy and insouciant. Very stylish, disguising the technical demands. “Here’s a song you’ll know, but don’t sing along: I’ve changed it” introduced a bluesy version of a Scottish classic, ‘Wild Mountain Thyme’, as a soft shoe shuffle. Exquisite. The second half of the concert concluded with a Caribbean vibe, an original melody ‘Down at Cocomo's’, evoking happy memories from a 6-month period in his teens that Martin spent on Barbados. Playful and delightful, it earned him a standing ovation.
There was an encore, and a rather special one at that. Martin demonstrated how a riff was assembled from 5 fragment elements, adding and subtracting them to show how, individually simple and unremarkable, they fitted together into a very satisfying jazz line with a Caribbean flavour. He then introduced an Earl Klugh melody which fitted perfectly on top over the ostinato riff. A second standing ovation ensued.
In conclusion, with an engaging stage presence, boundless charm, phenomenal musicality and awesome technical mastery (not to mention deceptively effortless communication skills), Martin Taylor’s ‘Standards’ delivered a terrific night’s entertainment and a memorable final night at the Festival for me. My heartfelt thanks to all the organisers and especially Festival Director, Helen Band.