Otis Taylor: Blues misfit and visionary
Otis Taylor calls the music he plays “trance blues,” which is one way of describing a sound that doesn’t really have a home in traditional blues circles.
“I’m a blues artist not a blues musician,” he says. “I’m not a blues interpreter. People get confused when I say that, but Muddy Waters didn’t want to play what everybody else played. He didn’t want to sound like anyone else. Neither do I.”
Taylor says he’s been told by various keepers of blues institutions that despite his 10 acclaimed studio albums since 2000, he still doesn’t fit in with their perception of what the music should be. No, Otis Taylor doesn’t play “Sweet Home Chicago.”
“The Blues Foundation told me they don’t have a category for the kind of music I make,” he says. “In response to that, I ask, ‘What if the greatest blues musician hasn’t been born yet?’ They look at me like I’m tripping when I say that. That’s a test to see just how forward-thinking someone is. I mean, who the hell did Robert Johnson listen to? The blues to me is all about call and response. Flamenco, Irish music, they’re very close to the blues. It’s an attitude.”
“I’m a blues artist not a blues musician,” he says. “I’m not a blues interpreter. People get confused when I say that, but Muddy Waters didn’t want to play what everybody else played. He didn’t want to sound like anyone else. Neither do I.”
Taylor says he’s been told by various keepers of blues institutions that despite his 10 acclaimed studio albums since 2000, he still doesn’t fit in with their perception of what the music should be. No, Otis Taylor doesn’t play “Sweet Home Chicago.”
“The Blues Foundation told me they don’t have a category for the kind of music I make,” he says. “In response to that, I ask, ‘What if the greatest blues musician hasn’t been born yet?’ They look at me like I’m tripping when I say that. That’s a test to see just how forward-thinking someone is. I mean, who the hell did Robert Johnson listen to? The blues to me is all about call and response. Flamenco, Irish music, they’re very close to the blues. It’s an attitude.”
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