Demetria Taylor: Bad Girl

Blues & Rock/Rythm & Blues
premiera polska: 2012-11-13
kontynent: Ameryka Północna
kraj: USA
opakowanie: Jewelcaseowe etui
opis:
multikulti.com:
Nie ma wątpliwości, że od najmłodszych lat Demetria Taylor oddychała bluesową atmosferą. Urodzona w Chicago ma za ojca legendarnego bluesmana Eddie’go Taylora, matkę Verę Taylor, także bluesową artystkę, również w dalszej rodzinie znajdziemy wielu znanych muzyków. Przez dom małej Demetrii przewinęło się wielu muzyków bluesowych jak Floyd Jones, Carey Bell, Sunnyland Slim, Johnny Littlejohn, Sam Lay, Willie Kent, Taildragger, Eddie Shaw, Johnny B Moore czy Magic Slim. W żyłach członków rodziny Taylorów płynie bluesowa krew, nie dziwi więc, że prędzej czy później musiała zadebiutować w barwach Delmark Records.
"Bad Girl" składa się z 12 utworów, absolutnie wspaniałych, lista muzyków wspomagających Demetrię wprawia w osłupienie: Big Time Sarah (wokal 11/12), Billy Branch (Harmonica 07.04.11 / 12), Eddie Shaw (Tenor Sax 3/4/5/6/8 /), i Łuke Pytel (Guitar 9/10), Eddie Taylor Jr (gitara), Shun Kikuta (gitara), Roosevelt Purifoy (Piano / Organ), Greg McDaniel (Bass) i Pookie Styx (perkusja).
Większość materiału to bluesowe standardy „Hoochie Coochie Woman” i „Little Red Rooster” Willie’ego Dixona, „Voodoo Woman” Koko Taylor czy „Cherry Red Wine” Luthera Allisona.
autor: Marek Dębski

Editor's info
With Billy Branch, Eddie Shaw, Big Time Sarah, Eddie Taylor Jr., Shun Kikuta, Roosevelt Purifoy, Greg McDaniel and Pookie Styx. Bad Girl is the debut CD by blues singer Demetria Taylor, daughter of the legendary Eddie Taylor. Best remembered for his work as the rhythm guitarist for Jimmy Reed, Eddie Taylor also recorded as leader for VJ and had a minor hit with the song "Bad Boy" in 1955. Demetria revisits the song here as a tribute to her late father. But Demetria is not just riding pops' coattails. Even though she just turned 38, Demetria won the B.L.U.E.S. on Halsted Blues Diva Contest 2010, has already performed three times at the Chicago Blues Festival and guested on two Eddie Taylor CDs. Eleven songs includes the rousing duet with Big Time Sarah on Wang Dang Doodle, I'm A Woman/Hoochie Coochie Woman, All Your Love, Goin' Back To Mississippi, When You Leave, Big Boss Man.

blues.about.com:
Though he died when she was 12 years old, Chicago blues guitarist Eddie Taylor was an influence on his daughter Demetria. She was raised in a blues family, her siblings all wound up performing in one way or another, and she was bound to join them. According to the liner notes on this, her debut album as a singer, Demetria Taylor spent many years playing the drums before carpal tunnel syndrome made that instrument to difficult. Fortunately, she could sing a little bit, and wound up in front of the band rather than behind it.

Demetria Taylor's Bad Girl
Those same liner notes insist that Bad Girl is an album “that both pays homage and serves as a declaration of independence.” The homage is obvious – she covers songs by both her father and her father’s most famous employer, Jimmy Reed, not to mention material associated with Koko Taylor, her most blatant vocal role model. The declaration of independence seems more a matter of intent than execution. While Taylor has the pipes and the blues feel to interpret these old songs, she doesn’t quite yet achieve the originality and personal approach to make her name in the field. Still, as bar band blues go, Demetria Taylor has plenty of entertainment to offer.

Koko Taylor (no relation) was known for years as the Queen of the Blues, and her gigantic voice and expressive growl is the template for Demetria Taylor’s approach to singing. Nothing wrong with that, of course, and the younger Taylor tempers the late Taylor’s in-your-face methods with a greater command of dynamics, and hints of tenderness now and again. On occasion, Demetria Taylor draws from the approach of Etta James, who also used the full-throated growl but had a much greater sense of nuance; Demetria could learn more from those old records, if she wants to create a more personal style.

Wang Dang Doodle
As a Koko Taylor understudy, Demetria Taylor has undoubtedly performed “Wang Dang Doodle” many times on stage, so it’s understandable why she chose to include it on her album. But she brings nothing of her own to the song, and despite a slow burn of a harp solo by guest Billy Branch, and an intriguing guitar solo by Shun Kikuta, mixing his original ideas with Hubert Sumlin’s iconic approach, this album closer is the weakest cut on the record. She does much better earlier on with a cover of Koko Taylor’s “Voodoo Woman,” imparting a sense of breathless fun as she runs down the list of voodoo tokens she can employ to let a man know if his woman’s cheating on him.

As long as we’re talking about Taylor material, we might as well mention the songs written by Eddie Taylor and Eddie Taylor, Jr. Demetria Taylor shifts the gender of her father’s “Bad Boy” and comes up with “Bad Girl,” another song which benefits from some great supportive Billy Branch harp. Taylor belts the heck out of this one, and ends with a heart-felt comment, “I love you, Eddie Taylor.” Her brother, Eddie, Jr., who shares guitar duties with Kikuta on the album, wrote “I Can’t Take It No More,” a smooth R&B number which Demetria sings beautifully, holding plenty of power and passion in reserve. This approach is nicely ironic on a song about being unable to stop emotional release.

Cherry Red Wine
The album’s highlight is a cover of Luther Allison’s “Cherry Red Wine.” Taylor subtly injects emotional cues into the tale of a woman watching her alcoholic husband wind his way down to an inevitable end. She’s clearly sorry for him, then she blames herself, then she realizes there’s nothing she can do to help him. In desperation, she wants to take him to a doctor, then moans with a loss of hope that can only be expressed by the superb guitar solos of Taylor, Jr. and Kikuta. Tenor saxophonist Eddie Shaw plays a hopeless, questioning solo as well, then Taylor brings us catharsis as she revisits all her moods and the band trades licks underneath her. There is no question at the end that the man will die, and we’ve been through the ringer along the way.

Taylor is acutely aware of her role as a woman in a male-dominated field. Chicago bar bands are almost required by law to perform the Muddy Waters classics “I’m a Man” and/or “Hoochie Koochie Man,” so Taylor rewrites them to match her gender. “I’m A Woman” recasts Muddy’s testosterone fuel into a celebration of female sexuality, while “Hoochie Koochie Woman” brags of her effect on men. This medley opens the record, and while the idea is fun, the arrangement doesn’t change much from the umpteen versions of these songs which have been played before.

Taylor brings more creativity to Jimmy Reed’s “Big Boss Man,” shifting emphasis on notes and syllables which subtly changes the melody, and forces new attention to lyrics we’ve heard a million times and stopped thinking about years ago. Billy Branch proves once again that he’s the most valuable player in Taylor’s team with an extended harp solo which twists and turns all over the familiar melodic ideas.

Steve's Bottom Line
Demetria Taylor is 38 years old, and she’s just recorded her debut album. She promises in the liner notes that next time, she wants to do all original material, a bold enough move in the blues world from a new artist who hasn’t proven she can write yet. But she has imagination, as seen in the better song interpretations on this record, so maybe that will work out fine. In the meantime, we have a good beginning to her career, an album which, despite a few lapses into overly familiar territory, showcases a singer with chops and the beginnings of a personal approach to the blues.
by Steve Pick



chicagobluesguide.com:
Among blues fans, certain names, when mentioned, tend to start conversations. Dixon, as in Willie…Hooker, as in John Lee…Williamson, as in Sonny Boy…Dragger, as in Tail. But seriously, the name Taylor is among those that get blues people excited. And with blues daughter Demetria Taylor’s new Delmark CD, Bad Girl, there is plenty to get excited about!

Demetria’s Dad, Eddie Taylor, the late great Chicago guitar man and vocalist, gave us hits like “Bad Boy” and “Bigtown Playboy,” not to mention his collaborations with longtime friend Jimmy Reed on tunes like “Ain’t That Lovin’ You Baby,” and “You Don’t Have To Go.” If you believe that the acorn doesn’t fall far from the tree, one listen to “Bad Girl,” Demetria’s take on her father’s hit, will confirm that the name Taylor is alive and well on the blues scene today.

Oh, and don’t forget the other Taylor, the late great Queen Of The Blues, Koko Taylor (no relation), who Demetria cites as her other great influence. On “Bad Girl,” Demetria Taylor shows off a wide range of vocals that surely have Koko smiling down from blues heaven. Just take a listen to Demetria’s version of Koko’s “Voodoo Woman,” or the lead track, “Hoochie Coochie Woman,” and you know she is the real deal, as able to channel Koko’s vocals as anyone out there.

Winner of the Blues Diva contest in 2010 hosted by B.L.U.E.S. on Halsted, Demetria is a regular there and at Blue Chicago, where she often is accompanied by Charlie Love. With this CD, Demetria now steps up as a bandleader, with soulful selections and the kind of band that knows how to deliver the signature Chicago blues.

It’s hard to go wrong with the venerable E.G. McDaniel on bass, son of the famed late bandleader Floyd McDaniel, along with veterans Pookie Styx on drums and Roosevelt Purifoy on the keys. Plus you get a stereo knockout punch from two guitarists: Shun Kikuta on the left channel, and another Taylor (with a career of his own) brother Eddie Taylor, Jr. on the right channel, who provides the one-two family-blues punch of this dynamite CD!

So this is one CD you should definitely listen to through some good headphones. Like other Delmark recordings, the sound is pure and true to the blues, with good separation between the instruments, and a natural, ensemble feel as if you were listening from the best seat at the bar at a Chicago blues club.

Rounded out with special guests Big Time Sarah, Billy Branch, Eddie Shaw and Luke Pytel, this is a CD that has not only an all-star lineup, but a great selection of material too. From the deep blues of Luther Allison comes Demetria’s version of “Cherry Red Wine.” Plus her versions of “Little Red Rooster” and Koko’s classic hit “Wang Dang Doodle,” both penned by Willie Dixon, are two of the truest cover versions to be recorded in a long time.

“Goin’ Back To Mississippi” is among my favorite cuts on Bad Girl, and not just because I really dig the Chicago shuffle sound, but because the guitar work is so strong, on both channels, not to mention the growlin’ saxophone of Eddie Shaw that matches Demetria’s growlin’ vocals perfectly. Brother Eddie contributes a classic Chicago blues sound too, on his tune “I Can’t Take It No More.”

So what’s in a name? When the name is Taylor, you know you’ve got some good genetics goin’ on. And with “Bad Girl,” the title track that pulls you in deep to the blues, you know right away you’re listening to the daughter of the man who wrote the song. Eddie Taylor’s little girl Demetria is all grown up now, and ready to keep the blues alive for another generation!
By Brian K. Read

muzycy:
Demetria Taylor: vocals
Billy Branch: harmonica
Eddie Shaw: tenor saxophone
Big Time Sarah: vocals
Eddie Taylor Jr.: guitar
Shun Kikuta: guitar
Roosevelt Purifoy: piano, organ
Greg McDaniel: bass
Pookie Styx: drums


utwory:
1. I'm a Woman / Hoochie Coochie Woman [Willie Dixon]
2. All Your Love
3. Voodoo Woman [Koko Taylor]
4. Bad Girl
5. When You Leave, Don't Take Nothing
6. Goin' Back to Mississippi
7. Big Boss Man
8. Cherry Red Wine [Luther Allison]
9. I Can't Take It No More
10. Trying to Make a Living
11. Little Red Rooster [Willie Dixon]
12. Wang Dang Doodle [Willie Dixon]

total time - 66:56
wydano: 2011-07
more info: www.delmark.com
more info2: www.demetriataylorblues.com