François Martin

The term ‘brunette’ refers not only to a young woman with brown hair, but also to a musical form that was highly fashionable from the late seventeenth century to the early eighteenth. The genre evolved from the air de cour, extremely popular in France since the beginning of the seventeenth century. The compositional process, however, remained very similar: to write a short, tender song, dealing with themes of love or nature, which could be sung alone or accompanied by a harmonic instrument. The late seventeenth century also saw the appearance of an instrument that soon became a favourite of composers and amateur musicians: the German flute, now called the traverso or Baroque flute.

Martin Taylor's latest DVD is a joyful collaboration with his long time friends and esteemed colleagues Mercury Prize nominee Guy Barker (trumpet) and David Newton (piano). Filmed on the Isle of Man and including bonus tracks and interviews this will be the first jazz group Martin has put together since the highly successful "Spirit of Django" and the only DVD of Martin Taylor with a group on the market. In addition to this on February 1st, 2nd, 3rd Martin will debut the new line-up at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in London. The Freternity DVD also introduces fast rising British jazz vocalist Alison Burn
Since the death of Joe Pass in 1994, Martin Taylor has become one of the most highly regarded guitarists in jazz.