Tal Till Svenska Nationen

Avid Jazz here presents three classic Tal Farlow albums plus including original LP liner notes on a finely re-mastered double CD. “Autumn In New York”, “The Swinging Guitar of Tal Farlow”, “This Is Tal Farlow” and 7 out of 8 tracks from Tal Farlow Plays The Music Of Harold Arlen”.
From 1954 “Autumn In New York” features Tal on guitar with Gerry Wiggins on piano, Ray Brown on bass and Chico Hamilton on drums. Largely self- taught, Tal Farlow came up through the ranks with a reputation for speed! Inspired by the playing of Charlie Christian in the Goodman band, Farlow would go on to combine this unique speed with technique and become one of the great jazz guitar players of the era…

For guitarist Tal Farlow's second album as a leader (following a very obscure effort for Blue Note), he is joined by rhythm guitarist Barry Galbraith, bassist Oscar Pettiford and drummer Joe Morello on eight numbers, and pianist Claude Williamson and bassist Red Mitchell for the remaining four. Farlow is heard in his early prime. Thirty-two at the time, he was a brilliant technician who could play extremely fast, yet clean and with a light touch. His solos on the 11 standards (which include Pettiford's "Blues in the Closet," "Stompin' at the Savoy" and "You and the Night and the Music"), plus his own "Gibson Boy," are hard-swinging and creative, yet thoughtful.

One of the rarest albums by the guitar jazz great Tal Farlow! The set's one of Tal's best for Verve (although they're all pretty darn good), and it features his edgey guitar in a west coast rhythm trio with Claude Williamson on piano, Red Mitchell on bass, and Stan Levey on drums. The titles are mostly standards, but they're played with a nice moody groove that opens them up nicely, despite the short takes on the tracks - that great sense of economy that always makes Farlow work from this period so great. Titles include "Manhattan", "I Remember You", "There Will Never Be Another You", and a solo version of "Autumn Leaves".

Definitive Records from Spain has been issuing very exciting re-releases and unusual items for years now, but in 2002 they picked up the pace with a series of recordings that had not been seen on U.S. shores on compact disc before. This double CD was issued as two separate albums on the Xanadu label under the titles Fuerst Set and Second Set - the man who recorded them was jazz enthusiast Ed Fuerst. While the sound here is in mono, and a tad distorted because it wasn't recorded in a studio but in a New York City apartment, the performance of this trio of Farlow with pianist Eddie Costa and bassist Vinnie Burke is among the finest items ever released in his catalog and reveals more than his recordings with Hank Jones and Oscar Pettiford the following year…

During the 1950s, Tal Farlow recorded a wonderful series of albums that established him as one of the premiere bop/cool guitarists. He recorded less frequently in the '60s, '70s, and '80s, preferring to stay out of the limelight. Autumn Leaves consists of two discs Farlow recorded for Concord: Tal Farlow '78 and The Legendary Tal Farlow (1985). When a great player like Farlow revives his career 20 years later, it seems customary, though a bit impolite, to ask: can he play as well as he once could? The easy answer is yes, he plays with the same finesse and speed (though it's hard to tell: his fingers move extremely fast), but this should be qualified by noting that his overall approach has mellowed during the interval. On the first disc Farlow is joined by bassist Gary Mazzaroppi and drummer Tom Sayek for a straight-ahead trio set…

Farlow is joined by second guitarist Don Arnone, bassist Clyde Lombardi, and drummer Joe Morello for three standards ("Lover," "Flamingo" and "All Through the Night") plus a trio of the leader's originals during what was Farlow's first recording as a leader. Even at that early stage, Tal Farlow was a giant.