The Swinging Guitar of Tal Farlow

Tal Farlow

album cover

After This, He Became a Sign Painter

The jazz life wasn't for Tal Farlow (1921–1998). The self-taught guitarist didn't begin to play until he was twenty-one, but he learned fast, and by 1950 he was a part of vibraphonist Red Norvo's acclaimed trio. This led to a series of records as a leader and a demanding travel schedule. And then, less than a year after recording this drummerless barrage of bebop in 1958, Farlow abruptly quit touring, settled in New Jersey, and became a sign painter. Over the next few decades, he performed sporadically, and his reclusiveness only enhanced his legend as one of the most lyrical jazz guitarists, and the rare musician who'd forged his own language. Other guitarists were better known (the overrated Joe Pass is one), but within the six-string brotherhood, Farlow was one who inspired genuine awe.

The Swinging Guitar shows why. Farlow plays "Taking a Chance on Love" (and other tunes) by tapping or brushing past the strings. He renders every note crisply, even when the music's flying by at ultrafast tempos. Every note is exactingly placed, and still Farlow manages to sound like he's "singing" on the instrument—even the technical slaloms of "I Love You" or the chamber-jazz arrangement of "Yardbird Suite" show him attending closely to the overall shape of his lines, forming complete complex thoughts out of what would be, in other hands, jumbles of notes. Farlow's easygoing demeanor permeates everything—his own spearing lines, the Django Reinhardt–style percussive chording he plays behind pianist Eddie Costa. Those little things put this record in the vicinity of true jazz mastery: There's enormous technical skill involved in the conversations, yet they sound serene and casual, like idle chitchat over coffee.

Genre: Jazz
Released: 1959, Verve
Key Tracks: "Taking a Chance on Love," "You Stepped out of a Dream," "Like Someone in Love"
Catalog Choice: Red Norvo Trio: The Red Norvo Trio with Tal Farlow and Charles Mingus at the Savoy
Next Stop: Jim Hall: Jazz Guitar
After That: Jimmy Raney: A
Book Pages: 270–271