Yellow Dog Records artist: Cassie Taylor - Out Of My Mind - New Release Review

I just received a copy of the new release, Out Of My Mind, by Cassie Taylor and she just keeps getting better! This release of 12 original tracks opens with Ol' Mama Dean, a soulful strut with a great pop hook and in addition to sweet vocals from Taylor includes rippin nice slide guitar work from Steve Mignano. Some Spare Love is a particularly cool blues track with soft but rich vocals supported by clean guitar riffs by Mignano and minimal drums by Larry Thompson and bass by Taylor. Mignano really has a nice hand on the fretboard and adds significantly to the overall feel of the track. I really like this. Lay My Head On Your Pillow is a real nice R&B style track done lightly backed by acoustic guitar and drums. Taylor continues to demonstrate her individuality in vocal style, not going over the top with vocal pyrotechnics but singing solid tracks with certain feel. New Orleans shows a definite period style with solid pop style vocals and is strengthened by addition of trumpet by Jon Gray and light rimshots by Larry Thompson. No Ring Blues has a Latin beat chased by Mignano on electric guitar. This is a slick track allowing Taylor her spotlight but also giving a decent space to Mignano to slash some really tasty riffs. Forgiveness has the fullest ensemble featuring `Gray on trumpet, Todd Edmunds on tuba as well as Taylor on bass and hammond, Mignano on guitar and Thompson on drums. Gone And Dead has a bit of a progressive edge featuring Steven Vidaic on keys. With an unusual time signature and almost Stomo Yamashta like sonic image, this is a really cool track. The final track on the release, Again, sets up in a gospel like manner with Taylor on piano, Mignano on guitar, Thompson on drums and Owen Tharp on bowed bass. This track is particularly strong and should easily make airtime routinely. Really nice.

 I have had the opportunity to review a number of projects that Taylor has worked on and this stands tall with any other work that she has done.

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Blind Raccoon & Earwig Music Showcase & A Bunch Of Other Happenings In Memphis This Week!

Blind Raccoon & Earwig Music Showcase Friday, May 10, 2 - 8:15 p.m. Purple Haze Night Club, Downtown Memphis, One Block South of B.B. King's on Second Featuring Andy Cohen, Leo Hull, Tommy McCoy, Guitar Mikey RB Stone, Johnny Drummer & Chris James and Patrick Rynn Blues Hall of Fame Tribute Jam Wednesday, May 8, 10 p.m. onwards B.B. King's on Beale, Memphis Yellow Dog Records All Star Showcase Thursday, May 9, 12:45 - 3:45 p.m. B.B. King's on Beale, Memphis VizzTone Label Group's Blues Party On Beale Friday, May 10, 10 p.m. onwards Rum Boogie on Beale, Memphis

Direct Music Distribution artist:The Bluesmasters - The Bluesmasters Volume Two - New Release Review

In dedication to Pinetop Perkins and Hubert Sumlin, both who played on this recording, a second volume of The Bluesmasters has been released. Featured are Mickey Thomas (vocals), Cassie Taylor (vocal and bass), hazel Miller (vocal),Eric Gakes (guitar) Rusty Anderson (guitar), Tim Tucker (guitar), Doug Lynn (harmonica), Aynsley Dunbar (drums), Larry Thompson (drums)and Ric Ulsky (Hammond B-3). First up is Sam Cooke's Bring It On Home To Me done jumps style with Taylor on vocals and Tucker kicking out a hot riff on guitar. Elmore James tune Talk To Me Baby gone swing shuffle again finds Taylor and Tucker rocking the joint with a cool harp riff from Lynn pushing Tucker on guitar. Johnnie Johnson standard Tanqueray gets a shuffle feel and Miller leads the way for a totally different feel altogether. Willie Dixon's I Just Want To Make Love To You gets a slinky feel. Don Nix ballad Same Old Blues features Taylor at her best and Tucker lays down a real strong guitar solo. I'd Rather Drink Muddy Water, made popular by Ella, features Thomas and Taylor trading lead vocals and Lynn on harp. Big Boss Man features Miller again on vocals stomping out the blues. Fine Cadillac done shuffle style features Gales on vocal and extensive guitar with Taylor and may be the best track on the recording. Thomas is back on Willie Dixon's Red Rooster and he sounds as good as ever. I particularly like the harp work by Lynn on this track. Robert Johnson's 3220 Blues is well managed by Taylor and group. Get Me A Car highlights Perkins on piano with Thomas on vocals alternating back and forth between the latin and shuffle rhythms. Jimmy Reed's Honest I Do again featuring Perkins and Taylor is done New Orleans style with some tasty guitar riffs added over top of the solid piano leading the way.

If you want some solid blues with traditional flavoring, this may be your ticket.

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Blue - Cassie Taylor - New Release Review

I just received the newest effort, Blue, by Cassie Taylor and it's really good! Yes, she's Otis Taylor's daughter but her music is in a different universe. This album doesn't fit into the standard "Blues" mold but I actually quite liked the record. Taylor wrote all 10 tracks on the recording and it definitely has a blues root but it has influences in many other directions. Spoken For has the eerie melody of early Fiona Apple and cool harp accompaniment to a relatively stripped down track. Taylor has a great voice for this type of moody blue music. Black Coffee again has the blues phrasing and this time backed with gospel like vocals. The track actually puts me in mind of writing by D'Angelo... another of my contemporary favorite vocalists. Goodbye is an uptempo track again keeping the instrumental very light with drum and rhythm guitar. Taylor's voice is sprinkled lightly across the song like a chef making a fine cuisine. Cool guitar riffs are added like a dash of spice. Bought Borrowed Stolen is a very strong ballad that should make Taylor a household name. Again keeping the instrumentation to a minimum and just lightly applying vocal the recording is just beautiful. Brilliant. Make Me Cry is a rocker again holding the music back to work with a light application of Taylor's voice. It isn't that Taylor doesn't have a strong voice...she does. It like she doesn't have to "American Idol" every note and she allows the music to breathe. This track has a pretty hot guitar solo on it but again sonically restrained. The mix is really superb. Haunted is the logical choice for the airplay track of the release. The melody is sweet, the hook is there and the guitar on echo/trem the overall sound is just polished and salable. Disappointment is another of my favorites from the recording. It has strong soul influences and an updated sound with again cool guitar effects. Again very well arranged soul background singers really warm up the track. Waste Of Time completes the recording and is a nice light ballad to conclude the set. The song begins as Taylor's voice and piano but builds to full band... still lightly handled. As my regular readers know, I am not really a "vocal" oriented recording fan and female vocals are really not my thing (with few exceptions). That being said... I think that this is a great cd and look forward to hearing a lot more from Taylor.
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Bitch - Girls With Guitars

The name says it all. “Girls with Guitars” – the 2011 Ruf Records Blues Caravan Tour – presents three of the scene’s hottest young female guitar slingers on a single stage.
Over the past six years, the Blues Caravan has toured successfully in the UK, USA and throughout continental Europe. This unique triple bill revue has helped introduce bright new stars such as Ana Popovic and Joanne Shaw Taylor to an international audience. Following in their footsteps on the 2011 tour is a trio of dynamic, up-and-coming blues talents: Dani Wilde, Cassie Taylor and Samantha Fish.
Hailing from Brighton, England, Dani Wilde sings the blues with the old-school fervor of Aretha Franklin, but also takes a cue from contemporaries like Duffy and Joss Stone. The singer/songwriter/guitarist has just released her second album, Shine, a collaboration with renowned producer Mike Vernon (Eric Clapton, Fleetwood Mac). She has shared stages with luminaries like Robben Ford, Candye Kane and Koko Taylor. Says Paul Jones of BBC Radio 2: “Dani Wilde's voice is astounding, with a unique raw passion and energy. She sings with more conviction and passion than old legends from the Mississippi Delta.”
At the tender age of 21, Samantha Fish is already a hot property on the live music scene in and around her hometown of Kansas City, Missouri. She discovered the blues almost by accident as a teenager, but it has since become her singular mission in life. Her high-heeled, rock-edged performances have won her a loyal local following and carried her to venues like Rosa’s Lounge in Chicago, where she opened eyes during the 2010 Chicago Blues Festival. 2011 seems destined to be her breakout year.
Proud to call herself the “Daughter of a Bluesman,” multi-instrumentalist Cassie Taylor has appeared on eight critically-acclaimed albums by her father, Otis Taylor, and accompanied him on tours all over the world. She was also a featured vocalist on Gary Moore’s 2008 release Bad For You Baby. Still just in her early 20s, Cassie has been hailed for her commanding stage presence and “heavenly” voice (Boston Globe). Her music ranges from heart-wrenching ballads to hard-driving blues. Like her father, Taylor doesn’t shy from topical subject matter, nor shrink from breaching musical boundaries.
This trio of young, passionate performers is backed by a top-flight band of road-tested professionals for more than two hours of live blues excellence.
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