artist info

Otis Taylor at his best!

Banjo... is blues icon Otis Taylor’s 15th album and definitely his best. One of the most compelling blues artists working today, singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Taylor is the winner of five DownBeat awards, and Living Blues, W.C. Handy and other awards. He has spent a lifetime creating his signature trance blues style, rooted in blues and blues/rock yet reaching far beyond with mesmerizing grooves and deep improvisations.

Banjo...was recorded in Boulder over a two week period, with Otis Taylor’s band members flown in from all over the country for the occasion. This is a must-have masterpiece from one of the best blues musicians in the world featuring six new songs and five reworked versions of old favorites. The album embodies Taylor’s powerful musical style and unflinching lyrics. While tipping its hat to what’s gone before, Banjo... isn’t a standard 12-bar blues album.

Taylor isn’t shy about letting a one-chord John Lee Hooker-style groove take hold, or using unconventional instrumentation, like the surprisingly effective Moog synthesizer on the song “Travel Guide” or the cellos (courtesy of guest musicians Beth Rosbach and Joseph Howe) that underpin “Little Willie.” Though the album is at times harrowing and always intense, it ends on a wise note with “Live Your Life”: enjoy what you’ve been given, and take time to laugh.

Taylor, born in Chicago in 1948, was raised in Denver’s historic Five Points neighborhood. His father worked as a Pullman porter. Both parents were jazz fans. He’s a celebrated blues icon with 14 original albums and 10 compilation albums. Taylor is one of the most celebrated blues artists in the world. He, along with Etta James, were voted the “Best Blues Entertainer” title in 2004. DownBeat Magazine named Taylor’s Double V as Blues CD of the Year for 2005 and named Recapturing the Banjo as Blues CD of the Year, in 2008, where they wrote “there's not been a better roots album released this year or decade than Recapturing the Banjo.” Taylor's 2015 release Hey Joe Opus Red Meat was editors choice album for the year in Blues Music Magazine and Premier Guitar Magazine and named "Album of the Year" by Blues411 and one of the top 30 albums of the year by The Blues magazine. DownBeat gave it 4 and half stars and listed it as one of their top 100 albums of the year.