by Ken Dryden
 
Since the death of Joe Pass in 1994, Martin Taylor has become one of the most highly regarded guitarists in jazz. He was given his first guitar by his father, Buck Taylor. Although he was inspired at first by Django Reinhardt, it was piano players like Art Tatum that drew his attention and helped him practice to develop his phenomenal solo technique. In the late 70s, Stephane Grappelli invited him to play in a series of concerts in France. The violinist was so impressed that he used Taylor often on tours and a variety of recording dates. Beginning in 1990, Taylor began recording a number of acclaimed CDs for the U.K. label Linn, distributed as Honest/Linn in the U.S., and also did an excellent duet date with David Grisman for the mandolin players Acoustic Disc label. All that is missing from Taylors current roster of recordings is a live date, though an excellent concert video is available. In 2000, he released his debut on an American label, Columbia, entitled Kiss and Tell. Stepping Stones on Linn followed that same fall.