Guitar | 1921-1998

Tal Farlow’s speed and harmonic imagination made him one of the defining bebop guitarists, his large, fast hands earning him the nickname “the Octopus”. Born in Greensboro, North Carolina, and largely self-taught after starting the guitar in his early twenties, he gained wide attention with the Red Norvo Trio from 1949, a group that originally included Charles Mingus. In the 1950s he recorded for Norgran and Verve, including Tal (Verve, 1956) and The Swinging Guitar of Tal Farlow (Verve, 1957), before settling in Sea Bright, New Jersey, in 1958 for a partial retirement spent sign painting and playing occasional dates. He returned with The Return of Tal Farlow (Prestige, 1969) and a series of Concord albums from the late 1970s. He died in 1998 at 77.