Melvin Taylor Plays the Blues For You

Not long ago I went to a concert by blues guitarist Melvin Taylor, who has made his mark on both the blues and the jazz worlds.
Born in Mississippi and raised in Chicago, Taylor started out in his adolescence with a band called the Transistors.
During the 1980's he toured Europe for a year with Pinetop Perkins and the Legendary Blues Band. He has since been touring Europe with his own group, sharing the bill with B.B. King, Carlos Santana and Buddy Guy, among others.
His recorded work includes Blues on the Run (1982), Plays the Blues for You (1984), Melvin Taylor and the Slack Band (1995) and Rendevous with the Blues (2002). He recorded his seventh and most recent CD, Beyond the Burning Guitar, in 2010 here in the D.C. area at Misty Creek Studios in Fairfax, Virginia.
At this event, held courtesy of the D.C. Blues Society, I had a chance to talk with him about what he's been up to lately:

Also had a chance to hear him play this song made famous by Albert King:

He also broke into this slow, bluesy version of "Who Knows?" made famous by Jimi Hendrix and Band of Gypsys:

He also came out with this Chuck Berry-style crowd pleaser. Check out how he uses the mike stand to play his guitar:

Last but not least, his wa-wa'ed up version of jazz saxophonist John Handy's 1970's hit, "Hard Work:"

Bottom line, it was a good time!
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