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INSIDE REVIEWSMasterpiece AAAAA Excellent AAAA Good AAA Fair AA Poor A52 Jazz54 Blues58 Beyond61 HistoricalOtis TaylorPentatonic Wars And Love SongsTELARC 83690AAA 1 /2If you haven’t hipped yourself to Otis Taylor yet, please do.This gravel-voiced, Denver-bred stringster/vocalist is a trueoriginal who, as a lyricist, catapults the pain and pleasure of oldtimeblues into a sort of Oprah Winfrey present. You want contemporary vocabularyfor the blues? How about depression, lesbian lovers and child molesting? Taylorbrings present-day psychology to classic situations, too, like plain vanilla murder.With just a few words, often repeated obsessively, he sketches a situationthen gnaws down the emotional bone.Here, he performs with jazzers Jason Moran, Ron Miles, Tarus Mateen and NasheetWaits, a change of pace that gives a rich new texture to his work. Unfortunately, echoey backupvocals and strings muck up some of the tracks, particularly the ones his daughter, Cassie, sings on.Taylor starts with a classic persona, a traveler pining for someplace familiar, where he can find“some heat”—and he’s not just talking about the weather. Miles’ sweet, rolling cornet—as withBill Frisell—leavens the singer’s languid longing, while Moran’s piano adds an irresistiblyrococo touch. “Silver Dollar On My Head” recalls a Greek uncle whose grandmotherapplied this curious money cure, but at bottom it’s really about numbing yet anotherform of pain. “Lost My Guitar” is so obsessive/compulsive you know it’s not justabout a guitar. “I’m Not Mysterious” is ostensibly about love between two youngchildren, but the line “I got a little red wagon, you can use it anytime” erases anyinkling of innocence. “Young Girl Down The Street” bumps and grinds withunadulterated lust, reinforced by Gary Moore’s insinuating electric guitar.Banjo enters the picture on “Country Boy, Girl,” and so does a Lightnin’Hopkins bravado, as the country narrator tells a city girl he’s got the goods. Morantotally gets the Taylor vibe on “Walk On Water,” which rises to a long jazz jam,with Miles and Moran chewing the fat and Taylor doing a somber scat. The religiousimagery is powerful. But the masterpiece here is “Dagger By My Side,” aclassic “went down to the river” murder saga with the twist that the killer is suddenlystunned to realize his victim loves him—and that his life is over, too. Taylor’s allalone here, just him and his delta blues guitar; the effect is mesmerizing.More’s the pity that other tracks have too much production goop. CassieTaylor gives a shot at her father’s obsessiveness on “Sunday Morning” but windsup just sounding repetitive. Atmospheric cornet echo and African drums don’tmake “Talking About It Blues” any more interesting, and Cassie’s re-do ofTaylor’s classic “Mama’s Best Friend” (about his mother taking up with a womanand leaving his father) is a mess of whispered vocals. Ditto for “Maybe Yeah.” Theproduction works better on the closer, “If You Hope,” with hymnal piano, upliftingcornet, Procol Harum organ, martial snare and throbbing guitar building to aripe climax that makes you think Taylor’s declaration, “My love isblind,” may not be such a good thing. Great stuff.—Paul de BarrosPentatonic Wars And Love Songs: Looking For Some Heat; Sunday Morning;Silver Dollar On My Head; Lost My Guitar; I’m Not Mysterious; Young GirlDown The Street; Country Boy, Girl; Talking About It Blues; Walk On Water;Mama’s Best Friend; Maybe Yeah; Dagger By My Side; If You Hope. (68:35)Personnel: Taylor, vocals, guitar, banjo; Cassie Taylor, bass (2–5, 10, 11,13), vocals (2–4, 10, 11); Tarus Mateen, bass; Gary Moore (2, 4, 13), HarryTuft (2), John Richardson (6, 7), guitar; Jason Moran, piano; Ron Miles,cornet; Nasheet Waits, drums; Brian Juan, organ (6, 13); Valerie LevyFranzese, cello (2, 3, 4, 13); Chuck Hugenberg, violin (2, 3, 4, 13);Mohammed Alidu (1), Mawuenyaega Mensah (2), Fara Tolno (3, 4, 6, 8,10, 11), percussion; Jae Taylor, backup vocals (3).» Ordering Info: telarc.comAugust 2009 DOWNBEAT 47STACY MOORE