When Martin Taylor booked a long-overdue solo gig in Hong Kong, there was only one person he wanted to call: Eugene Pao, one of the city’s two unofficial godfathers of jazz. “I love playing with Eugene,” enthuses the British guitar great. “He’s such a fantastic musician and he’s got his own voice in jazz. I love his improvising ideas – you never quite know where he’s going to go. And that’s what you always want from an improviser.”
High praise indeed from a man whose previous six-string sparring partners include legends Joe Pass, Barney Kessel and Charlie Byrd.
As such, for one night only, Pao will join the visiting jazz star onstage as a special guest at Xiqu Centre’s intimate Tea House Theatre on 4 August — reviving a 35-year musical relationship dating back to Taylor’s first concert in the city in 1991. “I have many, many great memories of Hong Kong, playing at The Jazz Club run by [saxophonist] Ric Halstead,” says Taylor of the long-gone Central hangout that played a crucial role in nurturing the city’s nascent jazz scene. “I used to go to Australia every year, and I would always call into Hong Kong and play on my way out or way back – it was something I always looked forward to, a real highlight of the trip, and I made a number of friends over the years. And one of those friends, of course, is Eugene Pao.”
That was then, this is now: at some point, Taylor’s Oceanic jaunts became less frequent, and he recalls last visiting the city alongside fellow six-stringer Tommy Emmanuel to promote the pair’s 2013 duo album, The Colonel & The Governor. Another stop in 2017 saw him perform in a trio with Pao and Ulf Wakenius. However, when the pandemic hit, Pao was one of the first pals Taylor called on to perform a time-killing virtual duet on “The Days of Wine and Roses.”
“Even though we weren’t in the same room, we weren’t even on the same continent, that connection was still there because we’ve played together so many times,” adds Taylor. “I could imagine him playing the kind of things that he would be playing, the kind of backing that he would like – so, yeah, I’m looking forward to getting to play together again.”
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- Martin Taylor has spent much of his life performing solo. Photo: WestK
Going it alone
For most of the night — and most of the rest of the tour, for that matter — Taylor will be going it alone, performing a solo set of jazz standards, plus a few modern pop tunes. As heard on this year’s acclaimed new LP, Standards, Vol. 1, it’s a highly virtuosic approach that sees him seamlessly performing melody, harmony and rhythm parts simultaneously. “I call myself the lone arranger,” jokes Taylor of his intuitive role-shuffling. “The best thing about playing solo is the freedom. But that freedom isn’t instant – that freedom comes from doing it for a very long time.”
He isn’t kidding. A third-generation jazz musician, Taylor gave his first public performance in the window of a music shop at the age of eight. However, while he has devoted much of his later career to the art of solo performance, he remains aware of what he misses: the joy of trading improvised ideas with other musicians. Who wouldn’t be, after playing in one of the world’s most beloved jazz ensembles? And no, we’re not talking about the two decades he spent on the road with former Rolling Stone Bill Wyman’s Rhythm Kings.
In 1979, Taylor first performed with violinist Stéphane Grappelli, co-founder of Quintette du Hot Club de France — the legendary gypsy jazz ensemble of 1934–48 that made Django Reinhardt jazz’s first guitar hero. “The reason I first played the guitar was really listening to Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli,” he remembers. “So it was quite something – at the age of 22, I found myself in France sitting on stage with Stéphane Grappelli, and I’m sitting in Django’s chair – not that long before I was a little kid listening to their music.”
Taylor’s own instinctive talents earned him a front-row seat at an elite training school, where he was enthralled by Grappelli’s sense of swing, timing and tone. “It was just impeccable. So I had to raise myself up to a very, very high standard very, very quickly,” he remembers.
However, the greatest lesson he learnt was showmanship. “Stéphane was the most fantastic communicator. We played within ourselves, within the trio – but he was very conscious that he wanted to communicate the music with the audience,” he adds. “He didn’t kind of give me any lessons in that, but I just kind of learnt from being there on stage with him – because you can be a fantastic musician but not be able to get the music across to the audience.
“You know, when I play in Hong Kong, even though I’m on stage playing on my own, I don’t think of it like that. I need to play to a certain standard for myself to enjoy what I’m doing – but I’m very conscious that I’m sharing this experience and this music with every single person that is in the audience, and I want them to feel part of it.”
Martin Taylor performs two sets at the Xiqu Centre’s Tea House Theatre, with Eugene Pao as a special guest, on 4 August at 19:00 and 21:00. More info here; tickets here.