British guitarist Martin Taylor is a highly respected jazz guitar player who recently opened up his own online guitar academy in conjunction with ArtistWorks.  Martin grew up in a musical family and received a huge break when he took over the guitar seat former held by Django Reinhardt, playing with famed French violinist Stephane Grappelli.

We had the chance to interview Martin Taylor after we recently reviewed his Martin Taylor Guitar Academy. 

How did you get connected with ArtistWorks and what convinced you to open up an online guitar academy?

My connection with ArtistWorks came through Jimmy Bruno. Jimmy and I have been friends for many years. We were both playing in Italy and after the show he got talking about the Jimmy Bruno Guitar Institute. I was fascinated by what he was doing in association with ArtistWorks, it’s such an amazing education concept.

Jimmy told me that David Butler liked my playing and had every CD, DVD and video that I’d ever made and was sure that David would like to talk to me about starting my own site.

I had a long transatlantic phone conversation with David and Patricia Butler, then a few weeks later my manager and I met Patricia in London and discussed it in more detail.

My initial worry was that I wouldn’t have time to film responses and give the site the time that it would need, but then after much discussion, and Patricia giving me a better idea of how it works, I realised that it was something that I could definitely do, and something that I would enjoy and get a real kick from. I’ve reached a time in my musical career when I want to pass on the knowledge and experience that I’ve gained over over 36 years as a professional musician and also slow down my touring schedule a little.

I’m having so much fun with the site. The students are so incredibly enthusiastic and hard working and are a real inspiration to me. I feel a big responsibility to them and really put my heart and soul into the site. I’m enjoying it immensely.

Martin Taylor's Spirit of Django Last Train to Hauteville

Congratulations on the new album “Last Train to Hauteville”.  What brought about the reformation of Spirit of Django and this latest release?

We made 3 albums in the 1990′s and enjoyed popularity in the UK, mostly due to playing the music on a hugely popular TV car commercial. Everyone in the UK knew that commercial, it was a very catchy tune and I always found it amusing to hear people singing or whistling the tune when I was walking down the street. The car company gave away a free CD with every car they sold so a lot of people became curious about this band called Spirit of Django and we began to play large concert venues. We actually had a lot to do with the new resurgence of interest in Gypsy Jazz and quite a few similar bands were formed shortly after us. I think that’s a great thing because this is such wonderful music. It’s good to see that this kind of music is now enjoy a recent rise in popularity in the US too.

Can you share what is was like to play with Stephane Grappelli?

I first met Stephane in 1975 but I didn’t start working with him until 1979. It was a unique musical and life experience which lasted for eleven years. I feel very grateful to have had that opportunity and look back on those years with great fondness. Stephane loved to play for an audience and really knew how to communicate with an audience. Every show with him was an education. He had a wonderful sense of humor, he could be extremely charming but could also be very difficult at times, and very self-centered. That really didn’t bother me, we got on extremely well and he looked upon me like a favorite grandson, I understood about his difficult childhood and realised that a lot of his anxieties in life stemmed from an unbelievable difficult and tragic childhood. I really miss him.

Martin Taylor with his Vanden "Martin Taylor Artistry"

What’s your main guitar these days? Why do you go with that particular guitar?

I have two guitars built by Mike Vanden in Strontian, Scotland. The model is a Martin Taylor Artistry, Mike and I designed the guitar together. The first was built in 1999 and the second in 2001. They are my main touring and recording guitars, although I do have a small guitar collection of vintage and rare guitars that includes a 1936 D’Angelico Excel, and a 1929 Martin 00045.

What about your amps and effects?

I tour with an LR Baggs EQ DI, and a T-Rex valve reverb. I also use a Milab microphone. Sometimes I also use a small AER guitar amplifier.

What was your first guitar? How old were you when you started playing? Whose music did you start out playing?

It was a terrible 3/4 size Russian acoustic that my dad bought for me in a rather dubious market in the East End of London in 1959. It was awful, I don’t know how or why I stuck with it. It was a true instrument of torture as the metal strings were so high from the fretboard that my fingers used to bleed every time I played it. It should have put me off guitar playing for life, but I stuck with it and loved it from day one.

What’s playing in your iPod/MP3 player-of-choice right now?

I enjoy listening to the French band Gotan Project. I have a house in France and work there quite often too. There’s some great music being made in France and two of my favorite guitarists, Bireli Lagrene and Sylvan Luc are both French.

Which guitarist would you like to play with that you haven’t played with yet?

There’s been some talk about Earl Klugh and I recording together, I hope we can make that happen. I would also love to record with Pat Metheny and George Benson. I’ve never met Pat, but I’ve worked with George before. These guys are “le creme de la creme”

Any upcoming tour dates you want to share?

This year I’ve been playing mostly solo in the US, Japan, Hong Kong, Britain, Germany and Italy. This summer I will mostly work with Spirit of Django and I also plan another couple of trips to the US. The dates will be on my website www.martintaylor.com

—————————————————————————–

Here’s a little video of Martin Taylor playing a calypso inspired piece called “Down at Cocomo’s” using his card-in-the-strings trick to dampen the sound and create a pseudo steel pans sound.  Really cool stuff!!