Tal Farlow Guitar Tab Books, Instruction DVDs, Chord Melody Solos, Transcriptions, Video Lessons

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Tal Farlow - One Of The Most Incredible Jazz Guitar Players Ever!
Compiled & Edited By Steven Herron

   Tal Farlow, now recognized as one of the great jazz guitarists of all time, was born June 7, 1921 and initially set out to be a commercial artist and performer. He did not appear in public playing the guitar skillfully until he was twenty-two. Tal played the mandolin and the guitar as a leisure activity from the age of eight. His dad played guitar, banjo, ukulele as well as violin, and Tal taught himself to play hillbilly music on one of his dad's instruments. In the late 1930s Tal listened to Charlie Christian on some Benny Goodman records. He was instantly attracted to Christian's swing guitar style. He listened to the records over and over again until he could play Christian's guitar solos note-for-note!

   Before 1943 Tal Farlow worked as a sign painter and played the guitar only as a hobby. With the establishment of a large US Air Force base at Greensboro, there was an unexpected demand for vocalists to perform at U.S.O. dances. Tal was selected to play at some of these. One of the many musicians he played with was swing pianist Jimmy Lyons. After the end of the war Farlow joined a band led by the well known pianist Dardanelle. He played with her band in Baltimore and Philadelphia and afterwards for six months at the 'Copacabana' night club in New York.

   It was in the jazz venues of New York's 52nd Street location that Tal Farlow had the opportunity to listen to various leading modern swing musicians including Charlie Parker, Art Tatum, Errol Garner as well as Dizzy Gillespie. After leaving Dardanelle, Farlow returned for a while to North Carolina but then returned to New York where he played with clarinetist Buddy De Franco.

   Tal Farlow was at that point selected in 1949 by vibraphonist Red Norvo to take Mundell Lowe's spot in his trio. Lowe had actually recommended Tal for the job. The new trio was formed by bassist Red Kelly. It was this period with Norvo's trio that Tal attributes to his mastery of the phenomenal technique he has. Red Norvo's trio, after Charles Mingus took the place of Kelly on bass, became one of the most well liked swing bands of the 1950s. Their recordings were continuously amongst the best selling jazz records. Tal appeared with the Norvo trio on the first ever USA color television program. As a result of this venue and gig appearances as well as recordings with the trio, he gained worldwide recognition for his incredible technique, sparkling improvisation, and original chord voicings.

   Playing an instrument of his own design with a fingerboard over an inch shorter than the standard template, Tal Farlow accomplished a most unique sound. While with Red Norvo's trio he established a variety of original rhythmic techniques on the guitar, typically confusing listeners into expecting that a drummer had actually been added to the line up. One such technique happened to be to play chords while at the same time tapping out rhythms on the guitar body and strings with his finger tips.

   In 1954 Tal Farlow left Norvo to play with Artie Shaw's Gramercy Five in New York. In 1954 Tal earned the Downbeat magazine 'New Superstar Award' and in 1956 their 'Critics' poll. By this time Farlow was recognized worldwide as one of The United State's leading swing guitar performers. He was promptly signed up by Norman Granz for the Verve record label. He made several superb recordings for Verve as the leader of several different bands that spotlighted top-notch swing performers of the day including Ray Brown, Chico Hamilton, Eddie Costa, Vinnie Burke, and Stan Levey.

   In 1958 Tal Farlow married and that year also marked what was to be his last important public appearance for a number of years. It happened to be held at the 'Composer' club in Manhattan. He at that point moved to his new home in Sea Bright, New Jersey on the Atlantic coast and entered virtual semi-retirement for about 20 years. He devoted a lot of his time working at his old love of sign painting. Nevertheless, he did not entirely neglect his playing and from time to time many of the world's top guitarists took time off to pay a visit to him so that they could play and talk guitar.

   In 1968 Tal made a brief return showing up to packed houses for 7 weeks with his trio at the 'Frammis' club on Manhattan's East Side. After this short reappearance Farlow came back once more to his home in Sea Bright. Pressure from swing enthusiasts all over the world, together with his own desire to play jazz once more, encouraged Tal in 1975 to start playing routinely. Since that time he has made numerous recordings as well as played frequently at swing clubs and jazz celebrations all over the world. His way of life as a swing artist and sign painter was the subject of a 1982 TV documentary. Tal Farlow died on July 25, 1998 and will be missed by all jazz guitar enthusiasts!