[SACD-R][OF] Martin Taylor & Steve Howe - Masterpiece Guitars - 2003 (Jazz, Guitar, YES-Family)

Truly a guitarist’s guitar recording, Masterpiece Guitars is a showcase for the vintage guitar collection of curator and collector Scott Chinery, brought to life by the duo of formidable British acoustic guitarist Martin Taylor and Yes lead guitarist Steve Howe.While you might be expecting to hear an acoustic version of “Roundabout” or “Starship Trooper” more than any jazz songs, Masterpiece Guitars offers just shades of the former and quite a few of the latter. Throughout an eclectic program, a wide variety of textures and tones are heard from such desirable instruments as an original Orville Gibson archtop and a D’Angelico Teardrop.

Martin Taylor’s versatility and nimble fretwork are on display in delightful versions of the Django-inspired “Thank Heaven For Little Girls” and Jerome Kern’s “All The Things You Are,” where he accompanies himself on no less than four different guitars thanks to studio tracking. Even more compelling are the variety of approaches he employs on Kenny Dorham’s “Blue Bossa,” vacillating from single line melodies to pizzicato passages to chordal exercises with unerring ease.

The presence of Steve Howe, though, is something of a mixed bag throughout the proceedings. While his accompaniment to Taylor is sympathetic in these carefully controlled environs, compositions like “Two Teardrops” and “Ae Fond Kiss/Farewell To Erin” are exactly the kind of treacly mood songs that have bogged down Yes recordings for so many decades. Much more successful are the country swing and folk influenced songs like the Chet Atkins style “Goofus” and, most impressively, Taylor’s “No Pedestrians,” which features a crackerjack imitation of Speedy West and Jimmy Bryant’s high speed honky-tonk.

But the Appalachian folk of Howe’s “Tailpiece” might be the best example of the magic that Chinery’s rare instruments can create when played by experts. The interplay of the Bigsby Steel and the Gibson Century Mando is as hypnotic and natural as a ribbon of fog around a mountain and sounds entirely of another time. And that might be worth the price of the record in and of itself. - KEN HOHMAN, All About Jazz

Jazz guitarist Martin Taylor and rock guitarist Steve Howe would seem an unlikely pair to make a CD together, but they had an opportunity, thanks to the generosity of a fan with a wide-ranging collection of vintage collectable guitars. In 1996, the two guitarists gathered over the course of several sessions and chose various instruments, often using several within one track via overdubbing. The two guitarists play together on just five of the 17 tracks, with Taylor playing ten solos and Howe two. Taylor’s unusual setting of Kenny Dorham’s “Blue Bossa” incorporates one guitar for rhythm, while he switches off among 18 other instruments for the solo. His setting of “All the Things You Are” adds a surprising lyrical introduction, while the arrangement contrasts with the typically over the top bop recordings. Howe’s spacious “Tailpiece” suggests a lonely journey in the desert. Taylor also penned several originals, including the tasty bossa nova “Cherokee Ridge.” Among the duo features, the enchanting, understated interpretation of “Smile” has a special appeal. This session will be of special interest to guitarists, though anyone familiar with either Martin Taylor or Steve Howe ought to investigate this enjoyable CD. – KEN DRYDEN, All Music Guide

Personal Note: Steve Howe (along with Phil Keaggy) has been one of my favorite guitarists since the 70′s. Seeing that there was an SACD coming out featuring Steve was enough to get the money out of my wallet (remember that Yes was not out on any SACDs at the time). I had never heard of Martin Taylor before this, but as the reviewer notes, he really does outshine Steve here. Based on this SACD, I now own several Martin Taylor discs as well. There are plenty of different flavors of music here – all of them with a really nice, sweet sound. Smile is my favorite.

But the real star of this show is NOT the musicians. It’s the instruments. The Scott Chinery collection was a serious one. There’s even a book out there somewhere about it — I have not been able to get a hardback copy for a decent price yet (but one day I will…).

I appreciate fine instruments myself – I have 4 Martins, 2 Fenders, 3 Alembics (and yes…they WERE all made in 1986 – thanks for asking), a Spanish Guitar from 1969, and a 1969 Epiphone made at the Gibson Kalamzoo factory. So I really appreciated the pictures and complete descriptions of all the vintage instruments that Taylor & Howe used for this recording. A very nice touch…