Martin Taylor - Artistry

Bitrate: 320K/s
Year: 1996
Time: 50:07
Size: 115,3 MB
Label: Linn Records (AKD020)
Styles: Jazz/Smooth Jazz
Art: Front

Tracks Listing:
 1. Polka Dots And Moonbeams - 8:05
 2. Stella By Starlight - 4:38
 3. Teach Me Tonight - 3:08
 4. The Dolphin - 5:46
 5. Georgia On My Mind - 4:57
 6. They Can't Take That Away From Me - 3:50
 7. Here There And Everywhere/Day Tripper - 4:50
 8. Just Squeeze Me - 3:18
 9. Gentle Rain - 3:49
10. Cherokee - 3:29
11. Certain Smile - 4:13

Nimble fingered Martin Taylor is back with a collection of jazz standards arranged for solo guitar. While Mr. Taylor's virtuosity is obvious, especially on the classically influenced "Gentle Rain", he is let down by both his repertoire choices and the recording process.The song selection here feels like a more formal guitar recital; whether it's Duke Ellington, Gershwin, Hoagy Carmichael, or the obligatory Beatles tune, so much of the material presented here has already been recorded by other great guitarists. Perhaps the intention was to invite comparison with the likes of Grant Green, Joe Pass or Kenny Burrell; if so, one may question the wisdom of such a choice.Finally, there's the sound quality itself; simply put, there is far too much distracting string noise (especially considering that Mr. Taylor is playing a guitar built specifically for him) and too much fooling around from song to song with the guitar's tone.Martin Taylor is a clearly gifted, master musician; sadly, this particular effort is hampered by technical flaws and a "play it safe" repertoire. "Artistry" will be welcomed by guitar aficionados looking for new `licks', the rest of us may hope for a project that better represents his obvious talent.

Artistry