Melvin Taylor

One of the most exhilarating blues guitarists to emerge in the past decade, Melvin Taylor is more a blues innovator than a purist, mixing jazz chords and rock influences into his tapestry of electric blues.

Born in Jackson, Miss. on March 13, 1959, Taylor's family moved to Chicago when he was only three. The youngster was soon introduced to music through his uncle, who often played with his buddies on the weekends. Taylor began to learn the basics from his uncle, and began hanging around outside local blues clubs in an effort to hear the players inside. By age 12, the young guitarist had started jamming with his uncle and his friends. Taylor joined his first band, the Transistors, in the mid-'70s, but the group played the popular music of the day instead of the blues. The guitarist got his blues fix by jamming in the Chicago blues clubs on weekends. When the Transistors broke up in the early '80s, Taylor was asked to join the Legendary Blues Band (following the departure of Muddy Waters) on their West Coast and European tours; needless to say, he accepted.

The young guitarist made a particularly large impression on European audiences and recorded his first two albums, Blues on the Run (1982) and Plays the Blues For You (1984), for French label Isabel. He spent the remainder of the '80s establishing himself as a presence in Chicago, forming the Slack Band and playing on a regular basis at the popular West Side club Rosa's Lounge. He also began to study the guitar further, adding jazz licks and chords learned from greats like Wes Montgomery, and weaving Jimi Hendrix-style rock dynamics into his solos.

In early 1995, Taylor signed with Evidence Records and released his first album in 11 years, simply titled Melvin Taylor and the Slack Band. The record began to turn heads and soon became the best-selling title in Evidence's catalog. Dirty Pool followed in 1997, further increasing his reputation as one of the best blues guitarist on the scene.

Between national and international tours, Melvin Taylor can still be seen every Tuesday night at Rosa's

All photos and logos are property of their respective owners and should not be copied without permission.

© 2003 Offshore Bar

website designed by Lambert Media any problems please contact the webmistress