Martin Taylor, guitar – Double Standards – P3MusicCD019, 52:24 *****:
Martin Taylor is a versatile British jazz guitarist whose Django-oriented SACD we raved about in the past. He has played and recorded duos with many other top guitarists ever since the late 1970s, and he wanted to do another duo album, but with “a slight twist,” as he put it.
This is it, and the twist is that both guitarists are him – he calls it a solo duet recording. In his notes Taylor explains how difficult it was to play the first part while simultaneously imaging in his head what he was going to put down as the second part. He says most of it wasn’t written down, but just evolved as he recorded the parts. The technical information is very detailed for this type of jazz album, with the type of guitar, the pickup system, the strings, the guitar amp etc. But most unusual is that eight mics were used – a pair for the main stereo pickup at the strings, one at the neck, another at the headstock, a stereo ribbon mic plus another single mic at the guitar speaker plus a spaced pair at the far end of the studio for ambiance. In addition there was the line-out from the guitar amp to the mixing board. The sonics are terrific – Taylor on the left channel, and …well, Taylor also on the right channel.
Toots Thielmans’ Bluesette was one of my favorites on the disc, and Ellington’s Drop Me Off at Harlem gets a hard-swinging treatment with both a wide frequency range and dynamic range. Basie is not ignored either: his Jive at Five moves along with more energy than you would expect from just a guitar duo. The Brazilian classic Estate is one of Taylor’s favorite tracks, which he has performed with many other guitarists, and it’s mine too. This CD is going to get a lot of plays in my car – duos of any sort are great spatially with the speakers in the doors separated almost like headphone drivers.
TrackList:
1. Triste
2. Bluesette
3. Young And Foolish
4. Drop Me Off At Harlem
5. Alfie
6. Jive At Five
7. Someone To Watch Over Me
8. Alice In Wonderland
9. Estaté
10. When I Take My Sugar To Tea
11. I Fall In Love Too Easily
12. Just Friends
— John Henry
