Connect with Larry

Larry and siblings to lead Antone's 100th birthday party for Eddie Taylor  

At Antone’s club in the music city of Austin, TX : master Chicago blues guitarist Eddie Taylor Sr. brought the place down in the 1980s. His kids plan to do the same for his 100th heavenly birthday  Jan. 27, 2023.  Featuring Larry and siblings: singers Brenda, Edna and Demetria, brother Tim on drums with very special guest John Primer on guitar, special guest Steve Bell on harp, and others.  Also in memory of Vera Taylor and Eddie Taylor Jr.    Get tickets early!

Blues Under the Big Sky 

Larry and keyboard player Barrelhouse Bonni joined with a band from Washington state and Montana to bring traditional Chicago blues sounds to the Big Sky Rhythm and Blues Fest on Aug.5-7, 2022.  Many thanks to fest director Lorne Riddell for bringing the Fest back after Corona.  The Rocky Mountains and big skies brought a breath of fresh air to this Chicago bluesman.

Bringing Back Blues in Austin West Side 

Blues never really left Chicago's West Side, but the music has been heard less often with the gradual closing of many small Black owned hole-in-the-wall lounges and the economic blows of Corona.  Thanks to grants from Chicago's Dept. of Culture and Special Events, Larry has been able to present a series of free neighborhood concerts through summer and fall 2022.  Sponsors have included St. Martin's Episcopal Church, the nonprofit Chicago Austin Youth Travel Events and Austin Town Hall Park.  The series…

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John Primer, Larry Taylor bring Real Deal blues to Fitzgeralds 

On June 1, 2022, Fitzgeralds, a popular music nightclub in Berwyn, IL adjacent to Chicago's West Side, wowed a packed house with a double billed, double-barreled traditional Chicago blues show featuring John Primer and Larry Taylor's bands.Primer and Taylor both played back in the day with the greats of Chicago blues so they know how the real sounds are supposed to go.  Steve Bell played harp for Primer, in the footsteps of his father Carey Bell.  Larry joined Primer on stage for a song in the finale…

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Larry Taylor opens first Soul City Blues Fest 

For the first time, Chicago's Dept. of Culture and Special Events sponsored a blues festival on the West Side in the 5900 block of Chicago Avenue, Sept.12, 2021. Larry Taylor and the Soul Blues Healers opened. They were the Driving Wheel of the whole fest!

 

Blues in the neighborhoods south and west 

Summer of 2021, during the reopening after COVID lockdowns, Larry Taylor and the Soul Blues Healers took the blues to the southwest Chicago neighborhood of Beverly, to sing June 12` at Nicky's thanks to the Beverly Arts Alliance and Chicago Blues Revival.  Here they perform Little Milton's "Feel So Bad Like a Ballgame on a Rainy Day."  It only rained a few drops, before the show.  Musicians: Ice Mike and Joe B guitars, Abraham bass, James Carter drums.

Larry's band was invited, a month later, to play at the…

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New blues photo history includes Larry and his dad 

Swedish blues writer Tommy Lofgren and photographer Erik Lindahl collected some priceless history on their 1980 tour across America, just released in a book "44 Days on the Blues Freeway."  They captured photos and notes about blues people -from Charles Brown and Peewee Crayton on the West Coast, Buckwheat Zydeco in Louisiana, stops in Mississippi for Jessie Mae Hemphill winding up on the South Side of Chicago with Buddy Guy at the Checkerboard plus Magic Slim, Nick Holt, Killer Ray Allison. The final stop…

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Larry Taylor among Chicago's 13 "Esteem Artists" 

Larry Taylor is one of 13 highly qualified artists named April 3, 2020 to receive the city’s Esteemed Artist Award, a special new $10,000 grant for career expenses including studio rental, supplies, travel and equipment. 

In celebration of 2020 as the Year of Chicago Music, half the Esteem Artist Awards are going to musicians. In addition to Larry Taylor, they are: fellow blues singer and educator Katharine Davis, jazz vocalist Deleatrice (Dee) Alexander,  Honduran-American guitarist Carlos Barahona,  Old…

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