Martin Taylor - Freternity (2007)

Martin Taylor's latest DVD is a joyful collaboration with his long time friends and esteemed colleagues Mercury Prize nominee Guy Barker (trumpet) and David Newton (piano). Filmed on the Isle of Man and including bonus tracks and interviews this will be the first jazz group Martin has put together since the highly successful "Spirit of Django" and the only DVD of Martin Taylor with a group on the market. In addition to this on February 1st, 2nd, 3rd Martin will debut the new line-up at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in London. The Freternity DVD also introduces fast rising British jazz vocalist Alison Burn
Since the death of Joe Pass in 1994, Martin Taylor has become one of the most highly regarded guitarists in jazz. He was given his first guitar by his father, Buck Taylor. Although he was inspired at first by Django Reinhardt, it was piano players like Art Tatum that drew his attention and helped him practice to develop his phenomenal solo technique. In the late '70s, Stéphane Grappelli invited him to play in a series of concerts in France. The violinist was so impressed that he used Taylor often on tours and a variety of recording dates. Beginning in 1990, Taylor began recording a number of acclaimed CDs for the U.K. label Linn, and also did an excellent duet date with David Grisman for the mandolin player's Acoustic Disc label. 1991's Change of Heart, the following year's Artistry, and 1995's Portraits, are all representative of Taylor's strongest material from this prolific period.
In 2000, he released his debut on an American label, Columbia, entitled Kiss and Tell, while Stepping Stones on Linn followed that same fall. Next, in June 2002, Taylor was awarded an MBE for his services to jazz. Later that year, his first recording for the Sony imprint P3 Records, Solo, was voted Best Album by the International Guitar Foundation. The rest of the decade saw Taylor issue a number of key additions to his canon: the fan-instigated, 2003 collaboration with Steve Howe entitled Masterpiece Guitars, the 2005 electric guitar-fueled Gypsy Journey, and the acclaimed 2008 album Double Standards. While Double Standards saw Taylor successfully deliver an album of guitar duets by overdubbing one guitar part onto another, his next run of albums were much more collaborative affairs. Two 2012 albums One for the Road and First Time Together! in turn saw him work with the English clarinetist Alan Barnes, and the U.S. guitarist Frank Vignola. 2013 brought a further meeting of technically gifted players when Taylor received equal billing on The Colonel & The Governor, an album of duets with the similarly revered guitarist Tommy Emmanuel.

Artists:
- Alain Caron: fretless and fretted basses
- Jean St-Jacques: keyboards and Malletkat
- David Bellemare: saxophones
- Simon Langlois: drums
- Francois Blouin: keyboards

Tracklist:
01. Making The Move
02. Freternity
03. Skylark
04. Stella By Starlight
05. Joyspring
06. Chez Fernand
07. You Know It's True
08. Lullaby Of The Leaves
09. The Odd Couple
10. Kissing Bug
11. Li'l Darlin'

Bonus Track:
12. Hymne A'Lamour
13. You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To


Features:
- Direct Scene Access
- Interactive Menu