Durium Posted December 7, 2006 Report Share Posted December 7, 2006 (edited) TALMADGE FARLOW ( 1921 - 1998 ) Some years ago I had contact with a jazz collector and film editor in the US who sent me a documentary, he had made himself, titled Talmadge Farlow (1921 - 1998 ). It was the first time that I heard the name of Tal Farlow myself. I played myself the 1969 album The Return of Tal Farlow and was fascinated by his great technique. What a guitar player . Tal Farlow playing Keep swinging Durium Edited December 7, 2006 by Durium Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Beat Steve Posted December 7, 2006 Report Share Posted December 7, 2006 (edited) Tal Farlow is GREAT! One of my all-time favorite Jazz guitarists. You started with a "mixed bag", though. "The Return of Tal Farlow" is great for his guitar work but the overall sound somehow appears odd to me. To me, the harsh, somewhat metallic sound of the piano really is out of keeping with the rest of it. I really prefer his Verve albums of the 50s as well as his early work with the Red Norvo Trio and on Blue Note. And then there are the two great LP's on Xanadu: "Fuerst Set" (Xanadu 109) and "Second Set" (Xanadu 119) - private after-hours recordings made by one Ed Fuerst in 1956 in a trio setting with Eddie Costa and Vinnie Burke where Tal really streteches out. Edited December 7, 2006 by Big Beat Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidewinder Posted December 7, 2006 Report Share Posted December 7, 2006 First port of call - the 'Complete Concert Band' ( ) Mosaic with all of the Norgran/Verve/Clef material. A gem ! I wonder if Rhapsody Films have plans to release that 'Talmage Farlow' documentary on DVD? Must be due for a reissue - I'd buy that one in a flash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnS Posted December 7, 2006 Report Share Posted December 7, 2006 The Verve albums are terrific, collected on Mosaic they are essential. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king ubu Posted December 7, 2006 Report Share Posted December 7, 2006 Oh hellyeah! The Farlow Concert Jazz Band Mosaic is da shit! I had his "Swingin' Guitar" and the self-titled Elite Edition discs before and love Costa a lot. The Mosaic is constantly great, the session with some west coast horns in is very good, too. I think this is one of the most consistent Mosaics - a great body of work, great tune choices, terrific guitar playing, very good backing bands, really one to play from beginning to end in one long go! The Norvo Trio w/Farlow & Mingus sides are great, too - those are all I have, I think there'd be some post-Minugs ones, too... some quite crazy stuff on those trio sides! This is one of the weirdest covers ever for a jazz release, methinks - only ever saw it on the web, alas: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Kart Posted December 7, 2006 Report Share Posted December 7, 2006 I heard Tal live in the mid-1980s, and believe it or not he'd gone a fair bit beyond anything I'd ever heard from on record in terms of fluidity/rapidity/subtlety of thought and execution. It was like listening to Tatum -- it felt like the music was close to or beyond my ability to take it in in real time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hot Ptah Posted December 7, 2006 Report Share Posted December 7, 2006 I saw Tal live in 1982 with Red Norvo, and he was indeed fantastic at that time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.A.W. Posted December 7, 2006 Report Share Posted December 7, 2006 (edited) One of my favourites since I began listening to jazz, many decades ago... Highly recommended listening! Edited December 7, 2006 by J.A.W. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Durium Posted December 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 7, 2006 TALMAGE FARLOW ( 1921 - 1998 ) Some years ago I had contact with a jazz collector and film editor in the US who sent me a documentary, he had made himself, titled Talmage Farlow (1921 - 1998 ). It was the first time that I heard the name of Tal Farlow myself. I played myself the 1969 album The Return of Tal Farlow and was fascinated by his great technique. What a guitar player . Tal Farlow playing Keep swinging Durium Highly recommended listening! By the way, his first name is Talmadge, with a "d". (Aangepast, Dr. F. in het originele bericht ) Keep swinging Durium Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceH Posted December 7, 2006 Report Share Posted December 7, 2006 Ya gotta love Tal! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikelz777 Posted December 7, 2006 Report Share Posted December 7, 2006 I picked up his Mosaic set on a whim because I found it selling very cheaply at the time. I figured if I didn't like it, I could probably re-sell it. I never had to worry about re-selling it because I enjoyed it so much. What a pleasant surprise and what a fantastic guitarist he was! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnT Posted December 7, 2006 Report Share Posted December 7, 2006 I love the Tal Mosaic so much I bought two -- one for the home and one for the office!!! Highly recommended!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim R Posted December 7, 2006 Report Share Posted December 7, 2006 TALMADGE FARLOW ( 1921 - 1998 ) WHO ?? I don't think we've ever talked about him before...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Beat Steve Posted December 8, 2006 Report Share Posted December 8, 2006 WHO ?? I don't think we've ever talked about him before...? Hey, you can't be serious! Has he really been off your radar all the time? There's LOTs of life in Jazz outside all those hard-bop-funk-jazz-rock-bluenote-hornblowers! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fer Urbina Posted December 8, 2006 Report Share Posted December 8, 2006 This is one of the weirdest covers ever for a jazz release, methinks - only ever saw it on the web, alas: Musicwise you're not missing anything if you have the latest Savoy reissue: Complete Red Norvo on Savoy For all 30 radio transcriptions by the Norvo-Farlow-Mingus trio, not the same as the Savoy recordings, check "Red Norvo: Volume 2" (Vintage Jazz Classics VJC-1008-2) Farlow was a great and very humble guitarist. The Farlow-Costa-Burke trio must have been quite a thing to watch live. A pity that he retired so early (1958). For more on Farlow see Dave Gould's site F Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brownie Posted December 8, 2006 Report Share Posted December 8, 2006 This is one of the weirdest covers ever for a jazz release, methinks - only ever saw it on the web, alas: If you ever come to Paris, I'll let you have a look at that album cover! In full color The photo (probably US Air Force) is uncredited. Savoy had weird covers at the time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmjk Posted December 12, 2006 Report Share Posted December 12, 2006 I've thrown down my guitar in frustration many times while trying to learn Tal's licks. Too damned fast. He had it all. A humble guy, too, from what I've read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim R Posted December 12, 2006 Report Share Posted December 12, 2006 WHO ?? I don't think we've ever talked about him before...? Hey, you can't be serious! Has he really been off your radar all the time? There's LOTs of life in Jazz outside all those hard-bop-funk-jazz-rock-bluenote-hornblowers! :D ... ... ... ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmjk Posted December 12, 2006 Report Share Posted December 12, 2006 WHO ?? I don't think we've ever talked about him before...? Hey, you can't be serious! Has he really been off your radar all the time? There's LOTs of life in Jazz outside all those hard-bop-funk-jazz-rock-bluenote-hornblowers! :D ... ... ... ... No worries, Jim. I know you're joshin'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jostber Posted March 8, 2008 Report Share Posted March 8, 2008 Just got this record: Tal Farlow Quartet. Had not heard too much of Farlow before, but this is great! An up and coming favourite. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjzee Posted March 8, 2008 Report Share Posted March 8, 2008 One of my favorite memories is a JVC Jazz Festival in, I dunno, the late '90's, which was a tribute to Barney Kessel (he got up on stage at the end of the concert to read a speech, but the stroke had so incapacitated him that, after a few words, his wife had to complete his speech, but that's another story). It was an all-star, all-guitar concert, and a highlight was this trio: Tal, Herb Ellis, and Charlie Byrd. Backed by bass and drums, they laughed and traded licks. It was great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jostber Posted March 9, 2008 Report Share Posted March 9, 2008 What's your favorite Tal? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Beat Steve Posted March 9, 2008 Report Share Posted March 9, 2008 (edited) You didn't ask me but anyway ... if you enjoyed that Blue Note 5042 then check out all of his 50s Verve albums. You can't go wrong with any of them; I have most of them (except 1 or 2); "The Swinging Guitar of Tal Farlow" and "Tal" are maybe my favorites but I really cannot see any major quality differences between them. So it all depends on availability, and basically any of them would be a good starter into his Verve period. His "Fuerst Set" and "Second Set" albums issued on Xanadu (private jam session recordings from late 1956 where he really stretches out) are particularly good, too. Edited March 9, 2008 by Big Beat Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidewinder Posted March 10, 2008 Report Share Posted March 10, 2008 So it all depends on availability, and basically any of them would be a good starter into his Verve period. The Mosaic is still available, of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Beat Steve Posted March 10, 2008 Report Share Posted March 10, 2008 But maybe beyond the financial means of some, and beyond the limit of those who are not completists. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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