OUT OF NOWHERE. The uniquely elusive jazz of MIKE TAYLOR. : April 2016

26/04/2016

A 4 stars review on latest Record Collector Magazine!

On the latest Record Collector (issue 453 May 2016) KRIS NEEDS writes a very good review on "Out of Nowhere". You can read it here below:

The "Record Collector" link to the review is at: http://recordcollectormag.com/reviews/nowhere-uniquely-elusive-jazz-mike-taylor
In the meanwhile yesterday the book has come back on Amazon Best Sellers at 15°, today at 41°...

18/04/2016

Original Mike Taylor's colourful drawing.

Here below we have the reproduction of the colourful drawing that Mike gave to Ron Rubin as a gift in 1967, one of the few left.

In the meanwhile "Out of Nowhere" today is ninth on the Amazon UK's Best Sellers Jazz Musicians Biographies section (read here)!

01/04/2016

Mike Taylor's original handmade scores.

Written on paper on September 25th, 1964 by Mike Taylor for his friend Trevor Watts with the proposal to rehearsal, these are the scores of "Rama", an unrealised composition never played on live concerts or recorded sessions.

Mike hand drew the staves and everything in neat pen and ink on a thickish tissue type of paper.

The binder was also self made with a stiff orange and clips to keep it all together...

Apart the fact that it is a precious object, it would be a wonderful thing if someone would decide to play/record this unrealised music.

OPINIONS

"An exhaustive near hagiography... Out of Nowhere encompasses the virtues of oral history: dogged research, exhaustive detailing and reproduction of key items in Taylor’s life and music".

KEN WAXMAN, "Jazz World"

"Well researched and well illustrated..."

BRIAN PRIESTLEY, "Jazz Wise"

"A fascinating account of a musician who epitomised the creatively significant mid-to-late 1960s period of British jazz... a welcome addition to the canon of British jazz biographies..."

ROGER FARBEY, "Jazz Journal"

"A morbid tale then at the outset, at some considerable remove from sentimental fandom... This book, not huge in length, is packed full of carefully gathered research...".

STEPHEN GRAHAM, "Marlbank"

"An excellent and obviously very painstaking piece of research. Thank you very much both from self and on behalf of the jazz community for preserving the memory of an unique artist".

JOHN JACK, manager of the Ronnie Scotts

"It's a fine book and the only one of its kind about Mike. Gradually the book will be included in stories about Mike so people might begin to seek it out. Congratulations."

DAVE TOMLIN, sax player, poet and writer

"With his two albums barely-reissued Holy Grail collectables, Taylor seemed doomed to obscurity until Luca Ferrari spent two years interviewing those who had known and played with him, while doggedly trawling archives and public records to emerge with the first book about this fascinating figure. His English sometimes may not to be perfect but just the fact this essential document now exists deserves the highest praise".

KRIS NEEDS, "Record Collector"

"Sublime!"
J.J. TIMMONS, Amazon UK

"A valuable biography..."

RICHARD WILLIAMS, "The Guardian"