Dr Martin Taylor, MBE (born 20 October 1956) is a British jazz guitarist who has performed in groups, guitar ensembles and as an accompanist. He is best known for his solo fingerstyle performances, in which he provides bass and chordal accompaniment in addition to a melody. 　　Taylor was born in Harlow, Essex, into a family with a musical heritage and a gypsy/traveller tradition, although he did not strictly lead the traditional gypsy lifestyle. At the age of four he received his first guitar from his father, jazz bassist William ‘Buck’ Taylor. His father, though only taking up music at 30, later frequently played the music of the Quintette du Hot Club de France and Taylor became inspired by their legendary guitarist Django Reinhardt. At age eight he was playing regularly in his father’s band and at 15 he quit school intent on becoming a professional musician. 　　Over the next few years Taylor played in numerous bands, in holiday camps, various radio dates and on cruise ships (one cruise led to the personal highlight of jamming with the Count Basie orchestra). Performing dates in and around London soon brought him into contact with fellow jazz guitarist Ike Isaacs who took the younger man under his wing. In addition to performing with Taylor as a duet, Isaacs helped develop his sense of jazz harmony and started him on the road to developing his unique fingerstyle technique. 　　Taylor attributes his musical talent to beginning to learn the guitar at an early age, playing frequently and also having many musicians on his father's side of the family.