Bebop's Eccentric Guitarist Who Was Tal Farlow?

[@JonBlondell]

I played with Tal early in my career, he was a sweetheart of a guy and a ferocious player!!

[@DaveLynchJazzGuitar]

I studied with Tal for a little while. He was a great man and an even greater guitarist. He's in my top 5 all time. RIP TAL. You are greatly missed.

[@theirritatedirishman5440]

I sat with Tal many times but he would never actually teach it was more “Let’s Play.” He taught if you wanna say at Musician’s Workshop in Marlboro,NJ and played on the ship in Sea Girt on Sundays. Had a place in Sea Bright.

[@PaulLannuier]

I met Tal when he gave a clinic for guitar majors at Berklee in ‘84 (‘85?). Such a wonderful gentleman.

[@theirritatedirishman5440]

@@PaulLannuier : We use to call him “Giant Hands!” His friggin reach on chord was just stunning! Plus he was fast with changes if needed

[@GoldtopDude]

Tal Farlow, Pat, Martino, and Joe Pass, my faves!

[@johnlyon326]

Saw him once, around 1986/7, in a small industrial town called St Helens in NW England. Still smiling.

[@tonybmusic1166]

Great video exposition of this monster player. Thanks.

[@furtherdefinitions1]

I first met Tal Farlow when he played a small jazz club I worked in the 80's in NYC. At the time, he was also doing regular work in Broadway pit orchestras. Great player.

[@blue47er]

Tal's incredible fingering agility around the guitar earned him the nickname< "The Octopus". i heard him on many occasions, and in conversation found him to be a gentle and modest man.He is much missed.

[@TimNelson]

It’s mini documentaries like this that prove the value of the Internet. Tal was years ahead of this time, it would seem. Incredible chops. Incredible ear. And almost breathtaking speed. Brilliant piece of work to those who wrote and produce this. Thank you.

[@BigOnBebop]

Thank you

[@karlschuch5684]

spent many Thursday nights around 1980 at "Sign Of The Times" pub in Little Silver NJ listening to Tal and Gary Mazzaroppi, he would talk to us during breaks... a real gentleman through and through

[@jeremiahreilly9739]

Thanks for this video on Tal Farlow. I discovered Tal when he played with the Red Norvo Trio. I had the good fortune to hear play live twice, once in a Master Class, the other time in performance. He radiated calm modesty and mastery. In the Master Class, he asked each student what he wanted to work on. It didn't matter. Tal knew them all. The student would sometimes ask, "What key?" "It doesn't matter, son. Just play." Thanks.

[@BigOnBebop]

Thanks for Watching.

[@billjohnson6300]

I think it was a Guitar Player interview that said Tal was incredibly happy to be done touring and to live quietly in a place near the ocean in New Jersey. He is near the top of the list of my guitar heros.

[@IantaylorCanuck]

Saw him play a club. He wore a massive grin the entire time, he loved playing.

[@bradrehn1007]

Lucky enough to see him perform, brilliant!

[@harrypalmer3481]

I also feel blessed to have seen him perform, at the now no longer Bass Clef club in East End London, UK in the early/mid 90s. It was a duo gig, double bass (Dave Green? I'm not sure now) & Tal Farlow. I was one of only four people listening, my girlfriend & couple of friends. There was a couple eating pasta at a table a few feet away not paying attention, that really annoyed me! I couldn't believe it, we were sat close enough, we could have reached out and literally touched him. They played a full set with full intensity to just us few. It was stunning. He spoke with me afterwards & graciously answered my questions about music & technical aspects of his guitar. He was surprisingly enthusiastic explaining the reason for an unusually placed extra pickup that he told me he engaged when he played octave harmonics to make those notes stand out more. He was an absolute Gentleman, gentle & softly spoken but very charismatic with it.

[@kennyhagan5781]

Two seconds in and I am blown away. How is it that I have never heard of this genius?

[@BigOnBebop]

Don’t know. He was great. That’s what we’re here for. Thanks for watching.

[@billbryant1288]

Because Rolling Stone and their ilk think there was no music before rock ‘n’ roll and leave him off their lists.

[@BigOnBebop]

@@billbryant1288 I’m betting he wouldn’t care about that list.

[@joedefelice7001]

Ahhh...TAL! He was one of the greats! One of my top favorites! I was lucky enough to see him play live, in the 90's, front row! After the show we talked briefly and he signed one of my albums for me. A great memory! I put him right up with my other top players, JOE PASS, BARNEY KESSELL, JOHNNY SMITH, KENNY BURRELL, JIMMY RANEY, RENE' THOMAS, AND LENNY BREAU.

[@tarnopol]

Nicely done! I appreciate the chill, old-school doc techniques-not a jump cut to be found! Dissolves! Speaking at a normal speed with-gasp!-pauses.

[@applejuice5635]

The Red Norvo trio with Farlow and Mingus was out of this world incredible, and yet their recordings are so unknown even among true bebop enthusiasts. The Red Norvo Savoy session - some of the best trio recordings ever.

[@hetmanjz]

For sure, the "Move" album. Also the Norvo trio with Farlow and Red Mitchell on bass.

[@gabri3l367]

Tal Farlow , the best !

[@guitaralligator7250]

💯

[@Caturday123]

Yep

[@williamrobinson7435]

Good this. Great biog. Tal Farlow was a true master! Thanks for posting. 🌟🎶👍

[@BigOnBebop]

Thanks for watching

[@tomg6284]

Many years ago in La Jolla ca had the pleasure of watching Tal play. He did things that I could never get close too. In the top 5 for sure.

[@crimsontyger8576]

Wonderful player. I saw him in the UK in the eighties. I was very early for the gig and saw him hanging around in one of the bars. I told him how much I appreciated his playing and he gave me a signed photograph (which I still have). Because I was so early, I went for something to eat and when I returned Tal was at the side door having words with the security. They didn't know who he was and wouldn't let him back in. I showed them the photo he had given me and they, seemingly reluctantly, let him in. It was a great night.

[@ypolchenko-freejazz-guitar]

so interesting. thanks!

[@hollywoodjoe123]

After decades of owning The Return of Tal Farlow album - I met Tal Farlow in August 1984 at The Hyatt House Hotel's Silver Screen Room on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood,California - Then I saw Tal Farlow at Zinno's(later Reno Sweeney's) in Greenwich Village New York - Had a visit to his house in Sea Bright, New Jersey on February 7 1995- my mom Claire and I drove down from Whitestone , New York - what a day that was - HE was so easy going - I will always think of TAL FARLOW as a wonderful kind man and not just a guitar player, Joe Nania

[@thomascohen9924]

I saw him play many times in a bar at the Jersey Shore. An amazing player!

[@franciscopimentel7034]

great video man i love tal farlow i studied him a lot

[@mr.b4444]

Love some Tal, he was quite an influence on many great guitarists of today such as Mark Elf. In fact Mark has a CD dedicated to him "We Remember Tal.

[@gilbertomolina2177]

I just bought the CD ! Great tribute, wonderful players ! The CD is avaliable from Amazon ! Cheers ! 🥳

[@simonagree4070]

Always a welcome listen.

[@robertleo7394]

Saw him w/Red in NY Jones Beach theatre late 70’s.Benny Goodman band too. Memorable concert!

[@MrMjp58]

Superb.

[@JackTheSkunk]

I saw Tal at a jazz festival of some sort in Miami back in the 60's I think. After his set he came and sat on the front row right in front of me with his guitar case. I couldn't speak to him due to a large canker sore in my mouth. I only remember Tal, Booker T. & The MGs and George Benson.

[@kharmalade544]

I recall Peter Clayton interviewing him on BBC radio and asking Tal why he was working as a signwriter in Rhode Island. Tal replied defensively that he wasn't a bad signwriter. He was also asked if he could go to jazz gigs just for pleasure. He said not with guitarists. With guitarists, he was always there on business.

[@Jim-j6t]

As a huge fan, a guitarist and a painter, I love tal. Sign painting was falling out of favor when I was first getting into that business. Whenever I have the luck of a plentitude at both jobs I like to watch tal painting that boat in that documentary about him. For what it’s worth…for me huge.

[@Caturday123]

Tal Farlow is amazing!!!!!

[@davidrobbins8941]

Nice licks 👍

[@thequestion52]

Very nice. Tal was also an early 'tapping' guitarist... not in the current style, but when the music could be served, he would reach across with his right hand and augment with a few additional notes. Eccentric, in the best sense of setting his own orbit.

[@BigOnBebop]

Yes. Thanks for watching.

[@ziegunerweiser]

I saw a documentary about 20 years ago about him my take was he was a sign painter from nc who was self taught and must have figured out how to play from listening to records my family had a summer home in ocean city md where i saw many signs very similar to the ones he painted george benson admired him so did many others i think

[@tiluriso]

3:0 -What I read was the one of the reasons he was to 'semi-retire' early was he hated the constant traveling life of a working jazz musician, constantly being a way from home so he decided to keep earning his living as a sign painter in Philly and just play locally. Wes Montgomery also hated the traveling aspect of being a working musician. Please correct the title, Tal's last team is misspelled. 'Farlow', not 'Farrow'.

[@BigOnBebop]

Thank you. That’s funny, what I heard was that he married a lady whose family had a lot of money and didn’t have to work. Thanks for watching.

[@tiluriso]

@@BigOnBebop OK I haven't heard that story , it might definitely be part of the reason as well, after all I'm not sure how much sign painting paid back in the 1950s/'60s' and thereafter. Meaning a wealthy spouse definitely helps!

[@cryptotharg7400]

Tal Farlow was the Allan Holdsworth of jazz. Welcome, to Jazz Club. 😎

[@grahamokeefe9406]

Tal was one of the first jazz guitarists that really made me perk up and go "what was THAT?"

[@guitarmusic524]

Duke Ellington was also a sign painter as a young man.

[@robertomui333]

He also got very big hands, so he played chords in his own ways only a few others can, cause of the size of his hands ..

[@barryo5158]

I never got the impression Tal had a lot of money but I think he was probably well enough off to live his modest lifestyle with few worries. He lived in a very modest home right on the shore in NJ. I think there are views of it in the video clips of his meetup with Lenny Breau.

[@BigOnBebop]

I talked about it here to someone else but there is a story out there that he married into money. Worked when he felt like it. Met him in 1968

[@barryo5158]

@@BigOnBebop I lived just a couple of miles away from him in the mid 80’s, I wish I had the opportunity to meet him. He was around and I knew about him but I was playing in a band in a totally different scene at the time so I didn’t have huge interest. Thanks for the video.

[@MikeL-7]

He married the ex-wife of Fred Loewe. She had enough money for the two of them to live comfortably (not extravagantly) on the Jersey shore. Tal Farlow was a highly sensitive guy who worked hard at his craft, certainly not eccentric.

[@oriraykai3610]

@@MikeL-7 He was in the way he treated Charlie Byrd. Totally disrespectful and uncalled for.

[@giovannicampagnoli_jazzguitar]

What happened between Tal and Charlie Byrd?

[@mattdelany6799]

Have you heard Tory Slusher? Her bebop is untouched.

[@FlipDahlenburg]

'Virginal Bebop'. Hmm. No thanks.

[@mattdelany6799]

@@FlipDahlenburg huh? Get your ears checked.

[@synthdude]

😝​@@FlipDahlenburg

[@mr.b4444]

Nope, and it's a him in a dress. Stanley Jordan was way ahead of Tori with that finger tapping over 40 years ago

[@mattdelany6799]

@@mr.b4444 but he is not as musical as Tory. Tory is just better. Period. The best in the world. Sorry.

[@rickjensen2717]

Brilliant musician - up there with the great Joe Pass.

[@BigOnBebop]

@@rickjensen2717 yes

[@williamjenkins3670]

Tal farlow with Johnny Knapp 1968

[@Guitar6ty]

Chet Atkins was also a sign writer.

[@BigOnBebop]

@@Guitar6ty the similarities end there.

[@Ruvfua]

Lo curioso es que…teniendo un inigualable fraseo ….así como Jimmy Raney…a Farlow en su última época se le ve en muchas ocasiones fuera de tempo haciéndose un tanto impreciso el paso entre acordes…quedando un tanto sucio el resultado…

[@BigOnBebop]

The great players don’t play their lines in boxes. Sometimes their line will stretch past the previous chord or start a line early before the oncoming chord hits. Charlie Parker was a master of this.

[@oriraykai3610]

And all this time I thought he was from Germany. 😅

[@hetmanjz]

Huh, how do you think you developed that mistaken impression??

[@TheTwangKings]

Not as celebrated as Wes Montgomery, but technically better on guitar. Sorry, I know it's a sacrilege to say that, and playing fast isn't everything, but it takes a great technique, which Wes didn't have. He stumbled over his fingers when he tried to play fast. Not Tal.

[@EdwinDekker71]

The narrator sounds drunk

[@TheGregory1967]

Peerless.

[@michouharoliyk2050]

Never heard of this fellow. He is OK, but y'all should check out a player called Steve Vai. Now that's a proper guitarist. Also Joe Satriani

[@BigOnBebop]

This is straight ahead jazz. Soloing off of chord changes. Not tinker toys.

[@FlyingV344]

this is bebop, Vai /Satriani dont play bebop man....

[@gusmartins3298]

C’mon, dude. They don’t play the same music or come from the same era.

[@FYMASMD]

HUGE HANDS!!

[@larsbernsmann9023]

That's why they called him "Octopus".

[@hollywoodjoe123]

huge imagination - and what harmony in the chords as well as the single note runs - wow - TAL FARLOW stated a whole new direction in jazz - be - bop guitar thinking -

[@EricaFalchieri-s9w]

Tal Farlow , the best !