Guitar innovator, concert performer, composer, music educator, & unshakable optimist in the power of music to make the world a better place.

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Multi-award-winning musician Dr. Martin Taylor, MBE, is a virtuoso guitarist, composer, educator and musical innovator whom Acoustic Guitar magazine calls ‘THE Acoustic Guitarist of his Generation’.

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Widely considered to be the world’s foremost exponent of solo jazz and fingerstyle guitar playing, Martin possesses an inimitable style that has earned him global acclaim from fellow musicians, fans and critics alike. He dazzles audiences with a signature style that artfully combines his virtuosity, emotion and humor with a strong, engaging stage presence.

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Taylor has enjoyed a remarkable musical career spanning across five decades, with more than 100 recordings to his credit. Completely self-taught beginning at the early age of 4, he has invented and developed a unique way of playing the guitar that is greatly admired, and often emulated, by guitarists all over the world.

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In addition to his solo concerts and recordings, he has also collaborated with musicians from many different musical genres, including: Jeff Beck, Tommy Emmanuel, Bill Wyman, Chet Atkins, Stephane Grappelli, David Grisman, George Harrison, Jamie Cullum, Bryn Terfel, Dianne Schuur and Gary Burton.

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Taylor brings a rich and varied musical heritage to his play, to the extent that Tommy Emmanuel remarked that [Taylor] is “a portal into all that came before.” Over his stellar career, Taylor has amassed a record 14 British Jazz Awards as a guitarist. Several of his albums have been in the Top 10 in the USA and Europe.

 

From his many world tours and recordings in the 1980’s with jazz violin legend Stephane Grappelli, to performing solo at New Yorks’ Carnegie Hall and London’s Royal Albert Hall, to composing music for Japanese TV, being a pioneering founder of an online interactive guitar school in California, and teaching at his highly acclaimed Martin Taylor Guitar Retreats around the world, he’s undeniable proof that music has no boundaries.

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Honors and Awards

• 2026 – Julian Bream Award (Worshipful Company of Musicians)

• 2013 – International Brand Laureate Award

• 2012 – Lifetime Achievement Award, Ards International Guitar Festival

• 2012 – Scottish Jazz Awards, Best Live Jazz

• 2010 – Honorary Doctorate Royal Conservatoire of Scotland

• 2008 – International Association For Jazz Education, Outstanding Service to Jazz Education

• 2007 – Lifetime Achievement Award NWJS

• 2007 – British Jazz Awards, Best Guitarist

• 2007 – BBC Radio 2 ‘Heart Of Jazz’ Award

• 2005 – Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Musicians, City of London

• 2003 – Pioneer to the Life of the Nation, awarded by HM the Queen

• 2002 – International Guitar Foundation, Best Album: Solo

• 2002 – Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE), awarded by HM the Queen for Services to Music

• 2001 – British Jazz Awards, Best Guitarist

• 1999 – Honorary Doctorate University of the West of Scotland

• 1999 – British Academy of Composers and Songwriters ‘Gold Badge of Merit’

• 1999 – British Jazz Awards, Best Guitarist

• 1998 – Freedom of the City of London

• 1997 – British Jazz Awards, Best Small Group: Martin Taylor’s Spirit of Django

• 1997 – British Jazz Awards, Best Guitarist

• 1995 – British Jazz Awards, Best Guitarist

• 1993 – British Jazz Awards, Best Guitarist

• 1991 – British Jazz Awards, Best Guitarist

• 1990 – British Jazz Awards, Best Guitarist

• 1989 – British Jazz Awards, Best Guitarist

• 1988 – British Jazz Awards, Best Guitarist

• 1987 – Grammy Nomination: Best Country Instrumental, ‘Together At Last’ (Grappelli-Clements)

• 1987 – British Jazz Awards, Best Guitarist

• 1985 – Music Retailer’s Association Award For Excellence