Otis Taylor (musician)
Encyclopedia
Otis Taylor is an American
blues
musician
. He is a multi-instrumentalist whose talents include the guitar
, banjo
, mandolin
, harmonica
, and vocals. In 2001, he was awarded a fellowship to the Sundance Film Composers Laboratory.
, Colorado
where he grew up. He originally grew up playing the banjo, but his father wanted him to be a jazz
musician. Upon hearing that the banjo was originally an African instrument turned almost exclusively into a white bluegrass
instrument in part through the derogatory black-face minstrel shows of the 19th century, Taylor dropped the banjo and began to focus solely on the guitar and harmonica. He played music professionally both in Europe
and the United States in a variety of blues-oriented bands until 1977, when he left the music industry for other pursuits, including becoming an antique dealer.
Taylor returned to music in 1995, and as of 2008, has released nine blues albums on several record label
s. His music tends to focus on the hard realities of life, especially relating to the black community. Some common themes in his music are murder, racism, poverty, and the need for redemption. To date, Taylor has eleven Blues Music Awards nominations while White African was named 'Best Artist Debut'.
Down Beat
magazine critics' Poll named Taylor's Truth is Not Fiction as Blues CD of the Year for 2002.
Living Blues
reader's poll awarded Taylor (along with Etta James
) the "Best Blues Entertainer" title in 2004. Down Beat named Taylor's Double V as Blues CD of the Year for 2005. Down Beat named Definition of a Circle as Blues CD of the Year for 2007. They also then named Recapturing the Banjo as "Blues CD of the Year, 2008."
His 2008 effort, Recapturing the Banjo, was an attempt to reconnect himself and the world with the true African origins of the banjo. "There may not be," claimed Down Beat in a review, "a better roots album released this year or decade than Recapturing the Banjo."
Taylor was the support act on Gary Moore
's 2007/8/9 European tours.
In 2008 the Santa Cruz guitar company released an "Otis Taylor" model acoustic guitar.
In May 2009, Taylor won a Blues Music Award for his banjo playing. He held the first Trance Blues Festival in Boulder, Colorado
in November 2010.
and vocals.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
. He is a multi-instrumentalist whose talents include the guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
, mandolin
Mandolin
A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
, harmonica
Harmonica
The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
, and vocals. In 2001, he was awarded a fellowship to the Sundance Film Composers Laboratory.
Music
Taylor moved at a young age to DenverDenver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
, Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
where he grew up. He originally grew up playing the banjo, but his father wanted him to be a jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
musician. Upon hearing that the banjo was originally an African instrument turned almost exclusively into a white bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
instrument in part through the derogatory black-face minstrel shows of the 19th century, Taylor dropped the banjo and began to focus solely on the guitar and harmonica. He played music professionally both in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and the United States in a variety of blues-oriented bands until 1977, when he left the music industry for other pursuits, including becoming an antique dealer.
Taylor returned to music in 1995, and as of 2008, has released nine blues albums on several record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
s. His music tends to focus on the hard realities of life, especially relating to the black community. Some common themes in his music are murder, racism, poverty, and the need for redemption. To date, Taylor has eleven Blues Music Awards nominations while White African was named 'Best Artist Debut'.
Down Beat
Down Beat
Down Beat is an American magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond" to indicate its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chicago, Illinois...
magazine critics' Poll named Taylor's Truth is Not Fiction as Blues CD of the Year for 2002.
Living Blues
Living Blues
Living Blues is a bi-monthly magazine focused on covering the African American blues tradition, and America's oldest blues periodical. The magazine was founded as a quarterly in Chicago in 1970 by Jim O'Neal and Amy van Singel. Alligator Records owner and founder Bruce Iglauer was also one of the...
reader's poll awarded Taylor (along with Etta James
Etta James
Etta James is an American blues, soul, rhythm and blues , rock and roll, gospel and jazz singer. In the 1950s and 1960s, she had her biggest success as a blues and R&B singer...
) the "Best Blues Entertainer" title in 2004. Down Beat named Taylor's Double V as Blues CD of the Year for 2005. Down Beat named Definition of a Circle as Blues CD of the Year for 2007. They also then named Recapturing the Banjo as "Blues CD of the Year, 2008."
His 2008 effort, Recapturing the Banjo, was an attempt to reconnect himself and the world with the true African origins of the banjo. "There may not be," claimed Down Beat in a review, "a better roots album released this year or decade than Recapturing the Banjo."
Taylor was the support act on Gary Moore
Gary Moore
Robert William Gary Moore , better known simply as Gary Moore, was a Northern Irish musician from Belfast, best recognised as a blues rock guitarist and singer....
's 2007/8/9 European tours.
In 2008 the Santa Cruz guitar company released an "Otis Taylor" model acoustic guitar.
In May 2009, Taylor won a Blues Music Award for his banjo playing. He held the first Trance Blues Festival in Boulder, Colorado
Boulder, Colorado
Boulder is the county seat and most populous city of Boulder County and the 11th most populous city in the U.S. state of Colorado. Boulder is located at the base of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of...
in November 2010.
Film
- In 2005, Purvis of Overtown featured a score by Otis Taylor
- The song "Nasty Letter" from Taylor's 2003 album, Truth Is Not Fiction, was featured on the soundtrack for the 2007 film Shooter.
- Michael MannMichael Mann (film director)Michael Kenneth Mann is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. For his work, he has received nominations from international organizations and juries, including those at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, Cannes and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
's 2009 film Public Enemies featured two Taylor's songs, "Ten Million Slaves" and "Nasty Letter". The former was also featured in the film's trailer.
Television
- The song "Ten Million Slaves" was used as the closing song to the episode titled "Blowback" of the FX show, JustifiedJustified (TV series)Justified is an American television drama series created by Graham Yost. It is based on Elmore Leonard's novels Pronto and Riding the Rap and his short story "Fire in the Hole". Its central character is Raylan Givens, a deputy U.S. Marshal. The series is set in the city of Lexington, Kentucky...
. - An Otis Taylor song was played on American IdolAmerican IdolAmerican Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
as part of the 2008 "Idol Gives Back" show. - The song "Ten Million Slaves" was also played in the commercial for the 2011 Season of Sons of GunsSons of GunsSons of Guns is a reality television series that airs on the Discovery Channel. The series centers on owners Will Hayden, his daughter Stephanie, and their crew, who manufacture and sell custom weapons at Red Jacket Firearms LLC...
.
Family
Taylor married Carol Ellen Bjork in 1985. They have two daughters, Cassie Taylor and Jae Taylor. Taylor's eldest daughter, Cassie, is featured on many of his releases. She also plays several instruments including bassBass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
and vocals.
Albums
- Blue-Eyed Monster (1996)
- When Negroes Walked the Earth (1997/Re-released 2000)
- White African (2001)
- Respect the Dead (2002)
- Truth Is Not Fiction (June 24, 2003, Telarc International)
- Double V (April 27, 2004, Telarc International)
- Below the Fold (August 23, 2005, Telarc International)
- Definition of a Circle (February 27, 2007, Telarc International)
- Recapturing the Banjo (February 5, 2008, Telarc International)
- Pentatonic Wars and Love Songs (June 23, 2009, Telarc International)
- Clovis People, Vol. 3 (May 11, 2010, Telarc International)
Soundtracks
- Shooter - Music from the Motion Picture (2007) - "Nasty Letter"
- Public Enemies soundtrack (2009) (the tracks "Ten Million Slaves" from Recapturing the Banjo and "Nasty Letter" from Truth is Not Fiction)
Compilation albums
- Scramin' and Hollerin' the Blues, Shanachie, 2000
- Get the Blues, NARM, 2001
- The Future of the Blues, Northern Blues, 2002
- The Blues Foundation Presents Blues Greats, Blues Foundation, 2002
- Beyond Mississippi, Manteca, 2002
- Harley Davidson Roadhouse Blues, The Right Stuff 2002
- Roadhouse Blues, Capital, 2003
- Exile on Blues Street, Telarc International, 2003
- Blues Music Awards, The Blues Foundation, 2007
See also
- List of blues musicians
- List of guitarists
- List of banjo players
- Anne Harris (musician)Anne Harris (musician)Anne Harris is a singer/songwriter, violinist, recording artist and actor based in Chicago, Illinois. She has independently produced and released four studio albums on her record label, Rugged Road Records: Anne Harris , Open Your Doors , Wine and Poetry and Gravity and Faith . A live album, Live...
External links
- OtisTaylor.com - Official website
- "Who is the King of Acoustic Blues?" (profile of Otis Taylor), by Ted Gioia, Jazz.com.