An Evening With Tal Farlow (Complete)

An instructional video I did with Tan Farlow, produced by the National Guitar Workshop and Alfred Publishing...

[@yurib7067]

I would trade about 3 dozen berklee “flavors of the week” for one Tal Farlow. He had it all as a Jazz player and as an artist. He had the admiration and attention of every great improviser from Wes to George to Jim Hall, to john McLaughlin, Steve Howe, A genius in every sense of the word.

[@CSaboe]

the kindest, sweetest genius i've met. he let me become his friend. i love and miss you, Tal

[@JodyFisherMusic]

Thanks for sharing your wonderful memories......

[@gregoryhodges1079]

I was in the audience for this when I was 16. So glad I got to experience his playing live.

[@gimpyjwilliams]

what year was it?

[@EdArmGuitar]

I think it says in the beginning 1997

[@billyfitzgerald834]

glad you decided to go because he would have passed not long after this. Looks like the mid to late 90s here

[@DaveLynchJazzGuitar]

I studied with him for a short time. A beautiful human being, and a tremendous player. One of my all time favorites. I miss him.

[@gregmcloughlin3213]

Tal Farlow is such an enigmatic player to me, this video offers some truly rare insights into his genius

[@DaniloMarrone]

What a wonderful surprise. The standard of excellence that Tal set in the 1950s is unbelievable. Farlow's album "Tal" is still one of the finest recordings of jazz guitar virtuosity anywhere. His humility is on full display in this video, especially when reminiscing about the great Lenny Breau. Jody did an amazing job of asking all the right questions in this workshop. Absolutely priceless! Thank you.

[@videotra]

I was named after Tal Farlow in 1979 by my jazz upright and guitarist father, Mike Connor, in Missoula Montana. My dad died in 2004 and left behind only a couple poor quality recordings. I still listen to a lot of jazz, and there's a sentimentality in jazz guitar in particular for me. I'm fairly familiar with Farlow's playing, but I didn't realize he was such a respected gentleman until I started watching this and reading the comments. I never saw him play - Tal died when I was a senior in high school. Years later (2013?), I saw McCoy Tyner play in Seattle - he's my little brother's namesake. On top of being a serious student of music, my dad was a sweetheart and intellectual. It's unlikely, but does anybody out there remember him? Listening to music is one way I stay in touch with him.

[@mintygreen8760]

What’s amazing about Tal is that he always picked fairly lightly but yet he has so much drive and force in his lines.

[@jean-lucbersou758]

THANKS to JODY FISHER to conduct such a brilliant and detailed analyse of TAL FARLOW's genial guitar playing with TAL himself ,so generous and nice . I could'nt imagine in the late seventies FARLOW to come home .He was yet a mysterious legend , a name , a nickname " octopus " , an innaccessible superman ! Here you bring some keys and both your guitars work classy and TAL offers his soul , wide knowledge , intimacy , secrets and unique own approach . THANKS and TRIBUTE to TAL FARLOW .

[@JodyFisherMusic]

Thank you so much, Jean-Luc Bersou....!

[@jean-lucbersou758]

@@JodyFisherMusicMAESTRO ....I feel honoured you answer me .....as you just really deserve compliments from all parts . I 've kept a small question when you asked TAL FARLOW ( 2nd minute of your conversation ) about the way He started playing . TAL answered He started on a four strings UKULELE . May I think this ukulele was tuned as the first four strings standard guitar tuning ?

[@BernieHolland-w4l]

I second every comment that has been posted here - he will always be my favourite guitarist - and he is such a nice person

[@jg11x11]

Jody is truly a Gentleman of Great Guitar Skill

[@davidmaslow399]

I played bass with Tal in the mid 80s. Wonderful it was!

[@michaelanzelino5068]

Tal is so 'old school' and i love him for it. Guys like him and Barney Kassel play the way they play because they have an aptitude for it. There is little to no mystery about it. At a certain point in ones life, one has to come to the realization that they either have it or they don't. One other point I'd like to make is Tal has large hands. And just like Paganini on the violin and Liszt on the piano, they can stretch up to the tenth degree in an instant.

[@Allan-et5ig]

Exactly...one either has it or one doesn't. But that's heresy these days, because the mantra of today is that if you practice you succeed... anyone can be successful if they just practice hard enough...which isn't true, obviously.

[@m.r.2183]

There are a lot of great musicians who would disagree with your assertion. Yes, there will always be a top tier of highly gifted people but there are many excellent even great players who put in thousands and thousands of hours to develop their music. John Coltrane and Bill Evans are two that started off with average talent but developed into world class iconic musicians. Tal was uniquely gifted starting at age 22 but retired early from the business and fell into obscurity.

[@DonFonzarelli-uq9yx]

I agree to a point.but much smaller hands have mastered the guitar.

[@halilakaydin8471]

Priceless. Thank you 🙏

[@JodyFisherMusic]

You're welcome, Halil......!

[@jpkaneshida5075]

I met him once. Lucky to see this legend and vastly underrated maestro

[@shanehen]

What a wonderful, humble gentleman. One of my guitar heroes! Sorely missed.

[@LetzBeaFranque]

Tal Farlow exudes joy in his playing. Inspiring.

[@IgnacioCacace]

This is soooo inspiring. Tal Farlow is an unique genius, his approach was so ahead for his time. And is beatiful the respect and admiration Jody Fisher show to him.

[@JodyFisherMusic]

Thank you, Ignacio...

[@tombstoneharrystudios584]

A fascinating insight into Tal’s chops...especially how he organised his scale/solo ideas! When he said he worked out of two positions mainly I was as surprised as anyone!

[@travelingman9763]

Pure Talent and work ethic! I talked with him once after his Th. gig in N.J! Seemed to be down to Earth and a no nonsense fella!

[@rostandbergerac6413]

What a great American man!

[@bradlloyd6261]

Thank you Jody!! I'm Greensboro born bred a Jazz drummer and now live here again after having left a while.

[@wbjams]

Thank You so much for sharing,Jody, This is priceless! Got to meet and hang with Tal a number of times,Great memories of a great musician , and true gentleman!

[@dr.norstrom]

Jody asked such great questions. This is a treasure trove.

[@132petrit]

Tal is really Master, what a great player👍

[@gfriedman99]

I saw him at the Blue Note in nyc early 90s. Just as humble and unassuming as anyone could be. Yet you know you are unmistakably watching legendary genius. It was quite the mind blower.

[@rickjensen2717]

Great interview Jody - you really got the best out of Tal on this day - such an unassuming great! Thank you - best wishes from the UK.

[@TrumpTownsendJazz7]

Thanks, Jody, for all you do, man! This is a totally great video! - I miss Tal... he was always a good man, and always nice to me.

[@johnzammitpace]

Tal Farlow is one of my favourite Jazz guitarists, and Jody Fischer is an excellent one, too.

[@danielhornbeck6588]

One of my heroes interviewing another one of my heroes.

[@anthonysilva5312]

Jody; just watched this a second time. You are an amazing interviewer and guitarist!🇨🇦

[@nickdrake5611]

I think this was done shortly before his passing. Unearthly geniuses, Farlow and Holdsworth, maybe the humblest and most unassuming of them all. R.I.P. you true masters

[@JodyFisherMusic]

The video was shot one year before his passing......

[@bradlloyd6261]

Yes one year

[@raimondocarbonella3687]

Great Great Great !!!

[@JodyFisherMusic]

Thanks, Raymond....!

[@TvDaddyAndTheTabloidArmy]

so good that you got this

[@sa7sul]

That's a gemstone of inspiration. Thanks for uploading!

[@JodyFisherMusic]

Thank you, Schneesieber....!

[@Sals37]

Thanks for uploading this!

[@kellyneese5216]

I TOOK TWO LESSONS FROM TAL AT HIS PLACE IN SEABRIGHT IN THE EARLY NINTIES. WOW ! GREAT HUMAN.

[@LoveOneAnotherHeSaid]

Brilliant! Can't say thank you enough!

[@apoculamus]

I have a few guitars and I looked inside all of them. Clearly his guitars had more notes inside them than mine do. Over the years I've been playing - 60+ I don't think I have ever heard any other player quite like him. There are many others also great, but he was unique.

[@gfriedman99]

It’s hard not to have a smile on your face when listening to Tal play.

[@MattLeGroulx]

This is incredible Jody, thanks so much for posting it! I could watch episode after episode of this all day long. Incredible resource.

[@paulhicks3595]

A goldmine of insight.

[@jumboshrimp5193]

I love it!!!!!

[@phillipholmes7144]

Genius, beautiful guitar 🎸 and beautiful picking!!

[@frankbueti5510]

Amazing

[@datapro007]

Thank you Jody. That was one of the most fascinating videos I have seen in a long time. Extraordinary.

[@JakesPhoto_]

Thank you for the Upload, Must have been a honor to play with Tal! Super cool!!

[@gabri3l367]

Tal Farlow Great !!! Improvisation number ONE!!!

[@sgt.pepper]

Humble and so, so great.

[@normandbolduc254]

WOW!! Wonderful!! Thanks

[@willjammski]

Tal is a master. Miss him.

[@walterprince8462]

Greensboro North Carolina home town to good to believe

[@brainstory4641]

Thank u for this Jody!!! This is amazing.

[@reggiechavez1747]

Thanks!!!

[@xRisingForcex]

looking great here, jody!

[@JodyFisherMusic]

Thank you, xRisingFprcex....!

[@maxmadro]

WoW Nice!

[@JazzGuitarForum]

Thanks Jody!

[@JodyFisherMusic]

Thank you, Jazz Guitar Forum......!

[@harryschultz6951]

Those hands wow - amazing

[@matteofontana2975]

super

[@HopeIanHope]

Genius

[@tonycalabro5125]

THANK YOU !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@BernieHolland-w4l]

Paying a second visit today - it sounds like Jody has his 5th and 6th strings tuned an octave down - very effective ! And of course Tal is wonderful both as a player and a person - did you know that many years before he had his guitar stolen from the trunk of his car while he was spending an evening visiting a friend ?

[@JodyFisherMusic]

Nothing is tuned down.....just standard tuning....

[@BernieHolland-w4l]

@@JodyFisherMusic Really Jody - so are you using some effect there because it sounds like a bass line an octave lower - or do I need my ears tested ! ! ! All the best to you from London UK.

[@JodyFisherMusic]

@@BernieHolland-w4l Just a little reverb....really....:-)

[@CalebOrvik]

21.29 - Tal goes somewhere that no other musician has gone before, ever. I can’t think I’ve heard anything like his sound, from anyone else.

[@sa7sul]

I don't know who used the harmonics first on guitar, you ll find many players who incorporated into their playing and developed the artificial harmonics. Take listen to Tommy Emmanuel with Somewhere over the rainbow. or Lenny Breau.

[@stringz63]

Fantastic interview!

[@sgt.pepper]

My favourite jazz guitar player , hi and Herb Ellis are something that makes me feel better, like in a sort of cloud.

[@arnieus866]

"I do that automatically". I am more manual. Thanks for uploading this fascinating glimpse into the mind of Tal Farlow.

[@JodyFisherMusic]

You're very welcome......

[@phillipholmes7144]

Guitar extraordinar!!

[@aaroncampmusic]

Tal was so great. It hit me pretty hard to hear he saw lines related to chord shapes. I do that too, but figured I was just doing it wrong. Maybe it's a good thing.

[@frostedfudgerdt3882]

Top player

[@sclogse1]

Those early days...having to get it up. Brain altering. Heaven.

[@RoryGFan-39]

I almost feel ashamed that it has taken me this long to learn about Tal. I've listened to guys like Wes Montgomery and Kenny Burrell for about 10 years but I should have learned about Tal sooner considering I live less than an hour from where he is originally from

[@JodyFisherMusic]

Glad you enjoyed it, David....

[@l.a.covers8400]

Tal kinda strikes me as a real gentleman. And very unselfish and played from the soul. I'm glad youtube is around or else i may not have been able to watch and be inspired by him.

[@googo151]

Tan Farlow, NEED AN EDIT.

[@cuccone]

I was there

[@newmoon54]

Sadly Tal Farlow passed away the year after this video was made. A REAL ~Country Gentleman~, born in Greensboro, N.C. in 1921 not far from Wilmington, N.C. where I live~!~

[@mcashnv]

Tal was a country boy from North Carolina, somehow found his way into jazz.

[@guyluca7361]

I may have purchased that guitar in 1998 from Michele his widow. I did not think he ever played it. Wow.

[@guyluca7361]

Nope. This one is more flamey. I think this one may be on Reverb.com.

[@JodyFisherMusic]

Pretty cool....!

[@spkay31]

John McLaughlin's main influence was Tal. Hearing him discuss how he see's the fretboard and intervals relative to the root note is great. He is both intuitive and analytical without effort.

[@themusiccovenant]

Guitar Gods

[@pb12661]

he's using the caged system. Awesome guitarist/musician.

[@sa7sul]

You mean he always locked his women into cages?

[@nostringsattachedmusic]

Wow this was such a joy to watch, you remind me very much of my old teacher. Do you think it's safe to say that Tal's approach (at least the one he's talking about here) is very rooted in substitutions (Am7b5 = Cm6 = F9 for example) and a very intuitive mastery of his favorite fingerings and the sounds that they produce, and sometimes he's just kinda "out there", improvising and responding to what he's hearing?

[@gfriedman99]

That’s my take away from what he said. It is difficult for him to explain it because its not a formula method. It’s intuitive to him.

[@maxvasquez4392]

could you please fix the misspelling of his name? please?

[@arnieus866]

Not yet.

[@brainstory4641]

Shout out to Jody tho! Best guitar educator!!!!

[@anthonysilva5312]

Tal should’ve worn a Nike shirt: “Just do it”

[@bradlloyd6261]

Absolut!

[@jodyguilbeaux8225]

in the start i think tal is playing a mixolydian over the five chord, that is basic modal scales.

[@globalnomad4074]

HIGHLY ORIGINAL INTRIGUING STYLE

[@antonparas4782]

4:21 noteworthy comment about different bass notes under a chord (besides the root, i.e. slash chords). Tal says you "can put many bass notes besides the tonic on a chord, and come out with some strange things" "that kind of adventuring...taking liberties with the harmonies...has always appealed to me because I was a great fan of pianist Art Tatum" "I tried to, at least, learn some lessons in reharmonizing tunes, which he did very frequently"

[@gregoryjclark81]

I'd kill for those hands. As I was cursed with THE smallest set of hands ever bestowed on a male human hand, after 30 years of picking I finally had to have carpal tunnel surgery performed on my left fretting hand. It has been 4 weeks and am ready to jump back into things. With my small hand set--one I have yet to find smaller than my own through myriad comparisons--I will declare that a larger hand for guitar playing does make things easier in achieving skill and technical prowess. Gone are the days of heavy gauged strings strung on an archtop hollowbody to .011 gauge strings on a Fender Telecaster. Going to try to make the Tele my mainstay. I'd say 'let's hope...' but hope feels dead in 2024. Let's see how far we get ruining the environment from mesosphere to ocean bottom over these next handful of years because things aren't hot or ravaged enough at this point.

[@ampm5994]

Someone could tell me the name of the first song ?

[@JodyFisherMusic]

It's a minor blues progression.....JF

[@ampm5994]

@@JodyFisherMusic Thank you Mr.Fisher, I'm a beginner :)

[@davidmaslow399]

We became friends

[@barryo5158]

This appears to me as a big missed opportunity with the very poor questions.

[@life-is-inspiring3953]

1. Charlie Christian 2.Tal Farlow and Wes Montgomery 3. G. Benson, Jim Hall, Barney Kessel 4. John Mcglagulin, Al di Meola, John Scofield, Lee Ritenour..... That's how I rank great jazz guitar players.

[@peterfriedrich135]

Maybe I'm stupid: In wich year is this evening taped ? Peter

[@gfriedman99]

I thought it was 1997

[@life-is-inspiring3953]

Even Benson was inspired by Tal

[@charlesduckettjr.800]

What Tal Farlow says about using two positions, on the guitar, is not some great insight; I think anyone who has ever played the guitar has come across that. They are the two positions where a diatonic scale can be played within four frets. All other postions require five frets. The interview fellow takes that basic notion way too literally. As if, "Oh, Tal can only play in two positions. I have busted him". Tal Farlow could play in any spot on the guitar, as can any good player.

[@davidpalmisano5115]

Wow...music college was such a waste of money and time. I should've just learned from the Masters.

[@donharrold1375]

Looks like they are doing the seminar in a dirty old warehouse? Bizzare!

[@sa7sul]

How could you know that's its dirty? Have you lived there?

[@gfriedman99]

Its a “workshop” after all.

[@ChordmelodistJ10]

Uncommon common sense. Take notes.

[@mcashnv]

too bad the audio is so terrible