Tal Farlow - The Legendary Guitar of Tal Farlow DVD

[raystargazer]

Anyone that played with him used to shake their heads at how fast he could throw a chord together and have it fit perfectly. Absolutely excellent..

[zthetha]

Tal is the Miles Davis of guitar playing - the supreme jazz man of his generation... ok... Wes and Jim and Kenny.... but this guy's sophisticated musical sense is amazing. The late and very great Lenny Breau was deeply influenced by Tal and for a time utterly bewildered by the chords he played.

[rvbarnesboy]

he's playing chords I never heard or saw before. they're perfect and extremely sophisticated. I never was hip to him before but I just ordered a bunch of his records today. i love the people he chooses to play with. i found a movie (or rather netflix did) about him and put it in my queue. the movie is nicely done, too. highly suggest it. I play and collect Gibson guitars and had seen the Tal Farlow model not for sale much at all..think it has a laminate wood top..

[kharnvelzyghur]

those are HUGE hands. 

[anarchristian]

diverdance meant well, I'm sure, but I bet Jeff Beck would be happy to be considered the Tal Farlow of his time. No disrespect intended toward Beck, but he never demonstrated the ability to improvise with the command of harmony and voice leading on display in this video.

[gabri3l367]

Il dvd è stupendo. Ascoltarlo e cercare di suonare quello che lui ti dice significa imparare la chitarra jazz. Grande Tal sempre nel mio cuore !!!! Un chitarrista italiano.....

[sthomper89512]

is this a recital of some sort of just a tal farlow video about his career??

im not a musician, but it sounds fine to me...just casual playing. was tal farlow in his prime/day a sought after jazz guitarist?? if so why?? the songs i have heard claiming a tal farlow as the guitarist seemed to my non musician ears to be beyond many jazz guitarists of the era. rapid fire notes and an unusual clarity in the recordings. a jim hall (a real artist?) at high speed.

[jamboliboli]

@OutOfThereSkulls Yeah I know, you're rubbish at the guitar.

[redwashre]

Cant beleive im watching 2 fools argue about 2 of the greatest guitar players in their respective genres,ever, when i should be practicing.



[manabozho]

Re: the accident of large or small hands--Tal thought all over the fretboard. I've read that he had some 3/4 size guitars, and as if that wasn't enough, he removed the first fret, re-scaling the board so he could get even further stretches than he does here on a standard neck. Similar issue with pianos--some of the greats could comfortably reach a tenth (C to E in the next octave), and phrased away using that harmony.

[LiberoMan]

@OutOfThereSkulls Listening to the masters can be intimidating, but really; You should be inspired. I stopped being jealous some years ago and it really made me enjoy the music to it's full extent! :)

[fabianidhesona]

awesome.

[1artgtr]

Wow, he is amazing. I got to see Les Paul a few months before he passed away and these guys still have it. God Bless them..

[ocajpast]

let's see i'm 57 this is, has been, will be, one of the few. Wes, Les, Tal, you kids.Sloppy ?, let's see how you play later in life. The guitar?, Cool, But if he had a $16.95 Korvette's guitar, he'd still blow you away. what feel, what groove. Damn. And I know you don't know what a Korvette's guitar is. Google it . It's a Sears thing.

[megablackhawk1234]

Wow.That is so beutiful and peaceful.

[ericrob2112]

tal and lenny are playing jazz in paradis

[440John]

Now THIS is guitar playing!

[edcerc]

his guitar sounds great. i love the scrape of the pick hitting the strings. Theres a lot of musicality here. Great voicings.

[Rickyyy001]

i have that DVD and it didn't help much. guy just plays and talks about the jazz age. doesn't explain anything. haha great player though... Amazing

[jamboliboli]

@Rickyyy001

It explains a lot if you know what he is talking about. I can take it you didn't explore 3/6/2/5/1 with all the possible harmonic changes you can make on those 4th movements.

[alzhammer1]

come on , this guy is cheating all the time... If you're interested in jazz guitar, Victor van Kampen is " the one "

[asrm]

i've always thought big hands made playing guitar easier, but those are HUGE hands, i guess it must be hard to play with hands like those, especially the right one when you play single notes. But he was great!

[VegasGuitarGod]

the reverb/delay on this is awesome, i think it might be a tel-ray

[ES175jazz]

Jigisdown, I would like to see you play the way he did when he was in his peek in the 50's. this guy inspired John McLaughlin and is one of the fastest bebop guitarist ever in his day in fact I would argue he was the first to play bebop like parkers ability on the guitar!!! He had been long retired and out of the Jazz scene and they must have dragged him out of his house to do this video.....

[jamboliboli]

I love how Tal Farlow always plays like he has a hangover. He's the man.

[diverdance]

@jamboliboli Sadly - you're not far off the mark. Why do you think you can't find recordings of him in the early-mid sixties? he was a drunk. Then when he came back - his playing lost some accuracy.

[GHub99]

wish that L5 was mine

[Hoopermazing]

@GHub99 - I wish it was mine... so that I could sell it and buy a Luthier-made guitar with a neck sized for a grown man. That thing looks like a violin neck in Tal Farlow's hands.

[GHub99]

@Hoopermazing well if you ever need a luthier call Barry Martin in El Paso he knows his stuff. and tal's hands are freakin' huge

[StavJazzMan]

@GHub99 It's not an L5.

It is [quit appropriately] a Gibson Tal Farlow

[Geepsterr]

@StavJazzMan This custom guitar has neither the cutaway scroll nor the pickup switch near the bridge nor the signature cloud inlays of a Gibson Tal Farlow model. In fact the bow tie inlays on this instrument are from a Gibson Barney Kessel model. . This guitar also has a different bridge and an extra pickup...However the tailpiece and the pick guard are from a Tal Farlow model .

[MrBasilGanglia]

He was a sign painter by choice, even though he was a great guitarist. Huge Hands. He could grip about any chord shape you could imagine.

[harrybottoms]

How did all these opinionted folks get on here? You should all go blog off somewhere else.

[Thejigisdown]

Oh dear, a bit sloppy.

[bernieholland775]

All good players have their own merit - but I have never heard another guitar player who had Tal Farlow's encyclopaedic knowledge of harmonic structure - it's no wonder that so many great players quote him as one of their favourite players

[nick5269]

@bernieholland775 you should look up ted greene

[tazmaniaco65]

Hahaha,I understand what you say.I used to think I could play somewhat fast.Then I heard bebop records by Tal Farlow and Pat Martino...Now I feel like I have to start all over again,haha.

[juancortes1979]

Only one word

Beautiful...

[JSLLH]

they dont make em like that any more ...... what a sweet man ! thank you for the beautiful music !.

[Modes9]

It really isn't all about execution. The problem with the music industry today is that everything is slick and over-produced. Guys do fifty takes of a solo and then over-dub, cut and paste until there's a slick finished product. I like a guy with a big harmonic sense just going for it...even if it's a little rough. If I don't hear any mistakes, I doubt if real improvising is taking place.

[thejazzman8]

tal farlow is legend personified.......if you cant hear what he's saying you just dont know the language

[obamaisafailure1]

the musically uneducated drones on this page should read up on this jazzmaster the clapton of his time wake up and get as life drones

[bluntobjct]

sweet thick strings

[GORDYZENS]

I agree that there are some "sloppy" areas that they should have corrected or edited before letting this go out. But he is still an awesome player.

[IpseEsse]

Come on, guys. The poor old man is clearly insane.

[diverdance]

sloppy? Do you know about him at all? Check out his life. This guy is the 'Jeff Beck' of his time. Check out his work with Red Norvo. He played some of the most melodic solos in the history of jazz gtr.

Django, Tal, Jeff. If you don't get it - you need to learn a whole lot more!

[kalpal67]

i like tal too but goodness let someone have a freakin opinion

[kalpal67]

but i do agree with you about how great he is! i just don't think it makes since to try teach someone to like it

[tjuo77]

Well said!! I can't believe the musical snobs on this page! Personally no amount of education makes him sound better to me.

[VegetativeHorse]

@diverdance Actually it gets a bit sloppy at times in this video, but that doesn't mean he's not great or that you can't learn a million things from him.

[CroissantOrange]

@diverdance What Jeff Beck? The guy who play 3 blues licks with his fingers for 40 years? No

[meleethe13]

@diverdance You put "Jeff Beck"---a guitarist of quite lower calibre--- in the same category with Tal Farlow and Django Reinhardt? I strongly disagree with your comparison.

[diverdance]

@meleethe13 OK, I'll bite. please explain to my why he is of 'lower calibre'. I have spent a lot of time studying all three. Check out JB's solos on 'She's a Woman' and 'Goodbye Porkpie Hat'. Or how he plays 'Angel Footsteps' (slide) or do you understand how he's playing 'Where Were You' (whammy and harmonics)?? All three guys made significant contributions.

[meleethe13]

@diverdance I think Jeff Beck simply relies on excessive usage of harmonic feedbacks. There is nothing beyond that regarding his playing style. On the other hand Farlow, is a quite technical guitarist. His rare but very authentic and refined chord changes, non-linear melodic articulation earned him the title "superb technician". I don't know if you favor the analogy: comparing Beck to Farlow is like comparing an "agile acrobat" to a "theoretical physicist".

[diverdance]

@meleethe13 Oh, by the way. I transcribed every single note Tal played on the 'Move' disk that he did with Red Norvo. I spoke at length with Tal about it. Then when I asked him if I could have his permission to publish it - he refused to accept payment of any kind. So I have never published it - out of respect to him. I didn't want to benefit from his genius without including him. But now that he's passed - maybe I'll start posting them on my website.

[meleethe13]

@diverdance [Continues...] Yes to some extend, the acrobat is familiar with the laws of physics.

[diverdance]

@meleethe13 "excessive usage of harmonic feedbacks. There is nothing beyond that...." huh?? "rare but very authentic....." huh?? wow. Can you forward links to some of your musical accomplishments please? Y'know; recordings, degrees, teaching positions, compositions, transcriptions....anything like that? thank you.

[diverdance]

@meleethe13 also, can you please forward an example of JB's "excessive usage of harmonic feedbacks"?? thank you.

[meleethe13]

@meleethe13 Alright that's it. It is not my accustom to involve in ad hominem verbiage.

[IpseEsse]

disturbingly sloppy playing in no definite meter. I'm a fan of free jazz, but not this garbage.

[wrf1973]

The beauty of the rubato style is all part of it. You're missing the point.

[zr24X4ROCKS]

TAL, IS PURE CLASS!!!

[BeautifulDiskize]

sweet.

[7NTBid]

Lol...so true! It can be depressing but then again....inspiring too. I better dust off my guitar and give it another try...

[gettinguponthe1]

wish i had hands like him.

[dylanthebody]

That run at :13 sounds amazing

[kingofskateop]

is it an improvisation?

[sthomper89512]

@kingofskateop

email them and find out.

[fernandosauma]

Geniuuuuuussss!!!!

[meleethe13]

Simply great!

[CptPattern]

How does Batio/Gilbert end up on here? Yeah...fingerstyle! cos Tal played that way all the time didn't he? I think he should have done it with the wind blowing south too.....with his left shoelace undone. Jesus!

[mwljazzguitar]

this is soooo great, but i kinda wish he would've played it fingerstyle. the picking is a little harsh sometimes. i guess the picking is part of his sound though.

[jazzcatuna]

What tune is this?

[ChillBroify]

@jazzcatuna it clearly says improv, thought a jazz guy would know the difference between an improv and an actual song,

[GuitarGare]

John McLaughlin's favorite guitar player.

: )

[gabri3l367]

TAL sei stato e rimarrai sempre nel cuore di tutti i chitarristi jazz. Armonicamente perfetto e sui "fast " unico.

[viniguitarjazz]

TAL FARLOW !NOT 1000 *****

[shetalkscrazytalk84]

Tal's playing in the early 50's is beyond genius! then around 58 he decided on what mattered most, fishing! one of the greatest artists of all time!

[outjazzer]

Tal is sorely missed. He's one of the reasons why I play guitar. His version of Cherokee to this day is amazing. He swung so hard, his chords, sense of melody, his ideas were way ahead. Check out the Atistry Of Tal Farlow it's burning.

[dylanthebody]

he's great... but i sincerly hate the tone

[fishytank1land]

I agree. The only way to go now is tone nob even on a box allll the way down. I am a guitarist who hates the town of mostly all guitarists. I can't stand it!

[sthomper89512]

@dylanthebody

you hate the tone of a guitar??

[dylanthebody]

@sthomper89512 Archtop correct yes



[daffer53]

if you can find it, pick up,"george weins newport all stars,"1968,its got tal, barney kessell, red norvo, ruby braff, i'm sure of the rest,but it's crazy! best version of "topsy" ever!( except for django...)plus that 'hip' 60's tune, sunny, and some others, but worth the price of admission! it was right after his 'return of tal farlow' album, which is also great. for a while,before gibson made guitars for him, he played an es-175, with the neck of an es-125,which he did himself!oh gomer!udaman!

[chumfilter]

This guy is so good, I wish the Paul Gilbert fans would check this out, an know that Gilbert is a worthless meth addict

[eatme765wes]

what, how can you say that? Paul Gilbert is a great guitar player, and i respect all genres

[chumfilter]

It has nothing to do with respect of genres, real classical music breathes with dynamics and feeling. There is much more to music than advanced technical ability. Fans of Paul Gilbert often bag on guys like Hendrix so I have been amusing myself by badmouthing who they often refer to as "god" lol.

Btw I like your playing much more than Gilberts. Your tone and phrasing is superior to that guy.

[eatme765wes]

Yeah, i doo agree with you in some ways. And thanks for the comment, personally i think i could have done much better !!

[MaximusDowns]

can't we all agree that Hanson was the best band of all time, representing the apex of musicianship, never, EVER, to be surpassed?

[chumfilter]

LOL, the Jonas bros are giving Hanson a run for their money.

[ES175jazz]

I appreciate Paul Gilbert. But I also love Tal. Have an open mind and learn and from everyone.

[chumfilter]

I agree, an open mind is essential. Gilbert may not be worthless, but he often appears to be on speed, and his die hard fans are loco. For rock players, Angus Young, Frank Zappa, Steve Vai, Edgar Winter all play circles around Gilbert, in my opinion. Speed is not everything, especially when you rush and drag like that guy.

[godlessbob]

I like Edgar Winter too but he is a saxophonist. His guitarist back in the day was Rick Derringer.

[dylanthebody]

Why do you bring up gilbert??? At least his stuff sounds good. Why dont you talk about Michael Angelo Batio. Now that sounds like shit. And how can you tell if a guitarist has feeling? Just because they use a cleaner tone... Or make funny faces while doing bends? That doesnt make someone have feeling. By you saying that paul gilbert doesnt have feeling you are basically saying that all shred has no feeling. Everything is a feeling. But tell me why having feeling is necessarily a good thing?

[chumfilter]

paul drags and rushes all the time. It just sounds square, listen to segovia or any decent classical guy, they use dynamics, the music breathes, if you can't hear those things then maybe you are not musically sophisticated enough to pick up on the nuances. Listen to John Scofield, he uses distortion with great dynamics, Gilbert just sucks.

[dylanthebody]

Okay, Classical guitar is also a genre. Your saying that every descent classical guitarist has feeling. So its impossible to play classical guitar without feeling? Thats strange. I thought feeling was about the player not the genre. But whatever you say man

[travman102]

i hope you mean johnny winter

[Sandemose]

Check this out with Paul Gilbert, quite cool of him to pull this off? Im not a fan of Paul, but as been said, you can find something with anyone that is likable ;)

watch?v=vVFa2iuKmFw

Best regards, Sandemose

[laszlosirsom]

I LOVE YOUR MUSIC AND PLAYING Kind Regard Laszlo

[edcerc]

I feel like hotlicks always puts mad reverb on their videos

[retrorex]

I shook hands with this guy in Tampa in 1996. Gosh, were those BIG hands. It's like if you were to shake hands with a baby! Nice guy, too. I complimented him and he actually BLUSHED! I'll never forget that night, 'cause Red Norvo was in the audience, too.

[babinm]

How great that he was able to retain such sharpness and facility at that age. One of a handfull of guitarists whose performances will be referred to and loved by musicians for decades to come.

[shaynedge]

wait a minute!!!!

was that a coiled b?

and for thast note an e aswell or are my eyes jsut screwy coz thats gotta be some heavy ass strings

[lazur1]

The picture's fuzzy. The e, b, and maybe even the g are unwound, although certainly not 'super-slinkies'.

[minor7b5b9]

Who the fuck cares? He also had a shortened fingerboard made for him by Gibson to take even more advantage of those gigantic hands.....but it's the music that counts man.The rest is bullshit.

[ZELENKAPB]

Genius..............I am always deeply emotionally moved when listening to or watching Tal Farlow.

Beautiful!

[stormbouy]

first time i heard Tal,i sold my four wheel drive and bought an arch top guitar...I see visions of coastal scenes when i hear Tal play..i dont regret selling the truck,but i still cant play like Tal....the heartfelt poet and harmonic genius...the world will miss him

[padleynj]

He lived at the jersey shore and played for free at the yankee clipper (in Sea Girt)every sunday during their brunch. The bluehaired old ladies never listened to him!! He was known there as the "Dean"of jazz guitar.