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Interview
Q. How
old were you when you got your
1st guitar, and what type was
it?
A.
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.
Q.
Who was the most influential
person in your life?
A.
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 heros
of mine that I got to work with
and became great friends, like
Joe Pass, Herb Ellis, Charlie
Byrd and Tal Farlow.
Q.
What was the most rewarding
moment in your life?
A.
Going to Buckingham Palace
in 2002 to recieve my MBE from
the Queen for Services to Jazz.
It was a surreal moment, and
one that I will always treasure.
Q.
What make is your guitar
and what do you like most about
it?
A.
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.
Q.
Name a piece of music or song
that changed your life, and
tell us why?
A.
"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.
Q.
If you could perform with any
musician in the world, who would
you choose and why?
A.
Tony Bennett. He's always been
my favourite singer.
Q.
What was the worst thing that
has happened to you on stage?
A.
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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