viernes, 16 de octubre de 2009

Otis TAYLOR - Below the Fold 2005


Otis TAYLOR - Below the Fold 2005
Label: Telarc

Blues

Genre-defying, critically-acclaimed singer/songwriter Otis Taylor's seventh CD, Below the Fold, marks the award-winning artist's third disc for Telarc, the premiere blues/jazz/classical label. Featuring a variety of styles that stem from a blues-based core, the 10-track set results in a diverse and rhythmically complex cycle of songs which bond acoustic Delta blues with Appalachian country blues.

On Below the Fold, Taylor's signature trance sound, marked by his artistic fearlessness, is fleshed out by the use of surprising instruments. Fiddle, organ and banjo meld into passionate narratives giving the songs an unearthly cast. "I'm obsessive about trying out new ideas and sounds," the 2005 WC Handy Award nominee explains. "And I'm particularly drawn to the banjo because it's originally from Africa. In old-time music, banjoists would tap on their fifth string, a process which carries right through to Delta blues." And for the first time, Taylor employs drums on several tracks. Standout selections include the brazen opener "Feels Like Lighting," the warmly sung "Working for the Pullman Company" delivered by Taylor's daughter Cassie, and the closer "Right Side of Heaven" which bustles with the sounds of a New Orleans-style cajun marching band.
**
When I heard Otis Taylor's 2003 "Truth Is Not Fiction" CD, I was knocked out by a startling and totally new take on blues music. Hearing the 2005 "Below The Fold," I am concerned that Taylor has written himself into a prematurely dead end. The production and instrumentation continues to be exceptionally innovative, modern, and the opposite of blues fossilized in either '30's Delta shacks or '50's Chicago blues bars. But it must be said, the songs are melodically sounding too much the same as prior efforts -- no matter how well-disguised by different and unusual (for blues) instrumental backing.

Like John Lee Hooker, Otis Taylor knows how to work a one-chord vamp. But as elemental as Hooker was, even with his one-chord vamps (some of which were upbeat boogies, which does help), his albums did not feel this constricted in what is becoming musically formulaic (albeit, a formula that is Taylor's alone). I am betting that Otis Taylor is creative and talented enough to break free, with his best songs still ahead of him. I really hope he doesn't let the "jam band" circuit imprison his creativity. No complaints at all here about his lyrics (some folks will never tolerate his subject matters), which remain fierce and compelling. But if the music isn't interesting, for me poetry or prose is just not enough.
By  Michael Strom.
**
Otis Taylor- (Vocals, Guitar, Banjo, Mandolin, Harmonica);
Cassie Taylor- (Vocals, bass guitar);
Futoshi Morioka- (Guitar);
Rayna Gellert- (Fiddle);
Ben Sollee- (Cello);
Ron Miles- (Trumpet);
Brian Juan- (Organ);
Greg Anton- (Drums).
**
01. Feel Like Lightning'
02. Boy Plays Mandolin
03. Hookers in the Street
04. Mama's Got a Friend
05. Working For the Pullman Company
06. Your Children Sleep Good Tonight
07. Didn't Know Much About Education
08. Went to Hermes
09. Government Lied
10. Right Side of Heaven
**
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