DECEMBER 2011 ISSUE MMUSICMAG.COM SPOTLIGHT L en I rish OTIS TAYLOR A self-described musical “reporter” takes Todd Edmunds, Anne Harris, Otis Taylor, a hard look at a broken world Larry Thompson, Jon Paul Johnson OTIS TAYLOR WATCHES THROUGH mid-1990s, following nearly two decades things.” His unique spin on traditional sounds the window as the snow falls outside. during which he simply didn’t bother with has spawned a subgenre that he calls “trance Most would find it serene—a dusting on the music industry. “That was no hiatus,” he blues.” Characterized by atonal rhythms, the mountains surrounding Boulder, Colo., says. “I quit! I was fed up with the music gritty emotional grooves and melodies the place he calls home. But not Taylor. business. There’s never been a musician devoid of chord changes, it inspired an entire “It’s dark and overcast,” he says with a who wasn’t fed up with the music business.” Trance Blues Jam Festival last November shrug. The bluesman, 63, readily describes His latest, Contraband—named for in Boulder, the first of what he hopes himself as a pessimist, one who warns that runaway Civil War slaves who were still is an annual event. he has little patience for answering “stupid considered commodities even after reaching Despite his downcast disposition, questions.” “I’m old and I’m black and I don’t Union lines—maintains that unabashedly Taylor claims the edgier songs from the new give a crap,” he says. direct narrative. While he’s garnered several album—“The Devil’s Gonna Lie,” “Romans Had Taylor’s music is just as blunt. On a prestigious W.C. Handy nominations and a Their Way,” “I Can See You’re Lying”—offer dozen albums released over the last 16 years, composition fellowship from the Sundance commentaries, not critiques. “I’m a reporter, he’s conveyed a sometimes brutal account Institute, Taylor is wary of praise. “I don’t a storyteller,” he says. “I’m not about being of the black American experience on works know about the blues,” he maintains. “But I self-righteous. I provide facts and leave it to with titles like Blue-Eyed Monster, When do know about being black. And if you’re a listeners to come to their own conclusions. Negroes Walked the Earth and White African. black singer, then you must be making black Some people write about broken hearts. I The Chicago-born multi-instrumentalist’s music. It’s typecasting, but I understand it. write about broken bodies.” recording career began in earnest in the However, I still like to put my own twist on –Lee Zimmerman WARREN HAYNES A powerhouse guitarist stands alone to put his stamp on a classic sound BETWEEN HIS VERY HIGH-PROFILE DAY JOBS IN GOv’t Mule and the Allman Brothers Band, virtuoso guitarist Warren Haynes isn’t lacking for musical outlets. But when he found himself with a batch of songs that weren’t suited to either group, he diverted them to Man in Motion, his first solo studio album since 1993. “They DECEMBERwere songs 2011 I’d written M thatMUSIC I’d always & wanted MUSICIANS to record, but MAGAZINEwasn’t sure they fit with any project,”H aynes says. “They seemed to cry out for a different treatment, more of a soul-blues treatment.” The tunes on Man in Motion were inspired by his love for classic soul by the likes of Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett and Sam & Dave, as 18 MARCH/APRIL 2011 M MUSIC & MUSICIANS MAGAZINE M mag 16.indd 18 1/12/12 11:55:54 PM.