Tal Farlow

Talmage Holt Farlow (June 7, 1921 – July 25, 1998) He learned chord melodies by playing a mandolin tuned like a ukulele. He said playing the ukulele was the reason he used the higher four strings on the guitar for the melody and chord structure, with the two bottom strings for bass counterpoint, which he played with his thumb. His only professional training was as an apprentice sign painter. He requested the night shift so he could listen to big band standards on the shop radio. He listened to Bix Beiderbecke, Louis Armstrong, and Eddie Lang.

Career Music Farlow's career was inspired by hearing Charlie Christian playing electric guitar with the Benny Goodman band. He stated he made his own electric guitar because he could not afford to purchase one.

Farlow employed artificial harmonics and tapped his guitar for percussion, creating a flat, snare drum sound or a hollow backbeat like the bongos.

Style and influence Steve Rochinski notes: "Of all the guitarists to emerge in the first generation after Charlie Christian, Tal Farlow, more than any other, has been able to move beyond the rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic vocabulary associated with the early electric guitar master. Tal's incredible speed, long, weaving lines, rhythmic excitement, highly developed harmonic sense, and enormous reach (both physical and musical) have enabled him to create a style that clearly stands apart from the rest." Where guitarists of his day combined rhythmic chords with linear melodies, Farlow placed single notes together in clusters, varying between harmonically enriched tones. The music historian Stuart Nicholson stated that "In terms of guitar prowess, it was the equivalent of Roger Bannister breaking the four-minute mile."

Discography As leader Autumn in New York (Verve, 1954) Tal Farlow Quartet (Blue Note, 1954) The Tal Farlow Album (Norgran, 1954) The Artistry of Tal Farlow (Norgran, 1954) The Interpretations of Tal Farlow (Norgran, 1955) A Recital by Tal Farlow (Norgran, 1955) Tal (Norgran, 1956) The Swinging Guitar of Tal Farlow (Verve, 1957) This Is Tal Farlow (Verve, 1958) The Guitar Artistry of Tal Farlow (Verve, 1959) Tal Farlow Plays the Music of Harold Arlen (Verve, 1960) The Return of Tal Farlow (Prestige, 1969) Guitar Player (Prestige, 1974) Fuerst Set (Xanadu, 1975) Trinity (CBS/Sony, 1977) A Sign of the Times (Concord Jazz, 1977) Second Set (Xanadu, 1977) Tal Farlow '78 (Concord Jazz, 1978) Chromatic Palette (Concord Jazz, 1981) On Stage with Hank Jones, Red Norvo (Concord Jazz, 1981) Cookin' on all Burners (Concord Jazz, 1983) The Legendary Tal Farlow (Concord Jazz, 1985) All Strings Attached with John Abercrombie, Larry Carlton, Larry Coryell (Verve, 1987) At Ed Fuerst's (Xanadu, 1988)