About the Author
The virtuoso guitarist Martin Taylor first came to prominence in the late 1970's through his collaborations with the jazz violin legend Stephane Grappelli, and now tours the world's concert halls with his dazzling live performances. He began playing at the age of four when his father, jazz bassist Buck Taylor, gave him a small acoustic guitar as a present. A totally self taught guitarist, he learned to play by listening to his father's records and trying to imitate what he heard. Seven years later he was playing in local bands and gained the respect and admiration of professional musicians who were amazed by the young boy they called "The Guitar Wizard." Although inspired initially by the Gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt, it was to be piano players, most notably Art Tatum, that caught his imagination and set him on the path of developing his own individual style of solo playing. In 1978 he made his debut album Taylor Made for Wave Records and the following year received a call from Stephane Grappelli inviting him to play on a series of concerts in France. Shortly after those concerts he joined Stephane on a coast-to-coast tour of the U. S., including New York's Carnegie Hall and the Hollywood Bowl. It was the beginning of an eleven year collaboration which took in numerous world tours, and over 20 albums including recordings with Michel Legrand, Peggy Lee, Yehudi Menuhin, Nelson Riddle and several film soundtracks including the Louis Matle movie Milou en Mai and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels starring Steve Martin and Michael Caine. David Mead has played on radio and TV, and in bars and clubs all across the UK. A private teacher for longer than he cares to remember, he embarked upon a career in journalism around 1992 when he joined the staff of UK's prestigious Guitarist magazine, working his way up to the post of editor three years later. From there, he joined Guitar Techniques magazine as editor, a position he held for six and a half years before leaving to pursue a successful career as a writer and musician. He remains fully active in the field of guitar education, holding the post of trustee on the board of the International Guitar Festival in Bath, UK, taking part in seminars all over the country and writing columns for Guitar Techniques and Acoustic magazines. David has written many guitar tutors, among them the best-selling "Ten Minute Guitar Workout," "100 Guitar Tips" and "100 Acoustic Guitar Tips." He has also co-written Martin Taylor's autobiography, "Kiss and Tell," available from Music Sales, London, UK. An accomplished acoustic guitarist, in 2006, David released his first solo CD 'Nocturnal' which was produced for him by guitar legend Martin Taylor, who features on the album duetting with David on Bill Evans' 'Waltz For Debby'. A follow-up album entitled 'Arboretum' was released in 2010 on the UK's prestigious Guitar Label.
