On August 31st, fingerstyle guitarist Martin Taylor will team up with jazz trumpeter Guy Barker to perform the "Spirit of Django Orchestral Suite" at the Royal Albert Hall in London.  This suite for full symphony orchestra and big band is based on music that Martin wrote originally for his group "Martin Taylor's Spirit of Django", which was previously performed last year with the RNCM Orchestra and Big Band. This year's performance will feature the Britten Sinfonia and the Guy Barker Big Band.  

 "We eventually decided on a Spirit of Django suite, using six of my own pieces reflecting Django's work, French life, American jazz and Gypsy music, and his interest in Debussy, too. Guy says he's always fascinated by how Europeans play jazz - how they play it with their own regional accents, even though that language originated in America."  - Martin Taylor

Martin first linked up with Guy Barker in 1972, where they both played in the Harrow Youth Jazz Orchestra. Read more from Martin in a blog he wrote for The Guardian. 

 "We decided that the piece should ‘reek of nostalgia’. Of course, it needed to have many elements of Django Reinhardt but also hints of Debussy (whom Django greatly admired) and the feel of the 30s and 40s, as if it were an imaginary soundtrack to a black and white film depicting summers in France. "  - Guy Barker

Read more about preparing the orchestral suite on Guy Barker's Blog. 

Here's the RNCM Big Band performing Martin's Spirit of Djanjo last year.