Larry "Bluesman" Taylor

Larry with singer Katherine Davis, State Sen. Lakeisha Collins, and piano player Yoko Noge.

Larry Taylor celebrated his 69th birthday in his home neighborhood of Austin, West Side Chicago, with a free all ages blues jam Dec.13, 2024 at St. Martins, an Episcopal church known for its blues and jazz presentations-- an event noted in the Austin Weekly News.  He was surrounded by family including several children and grandchildren, his band the Soul Blues Healers (his brother Tim Taylor on drums, Abraham bass…

Larry and the band were pleased to be chosen to close out a summer concert series featuring West Side musicians at Garfield Park Conservatory on Sept. 18, 2024. As the palm trees and ferns waved their leaves and kids scampered in and out of the gardens, Horticulture Hall resounded with the sounds of the Soul Blues Healers.  Thanks to the staff and the crowd from all over who attended.  Here's a sample of the music: the traditional “Matchbox” done in Albert King style, with Brian Lupo guitar, Abraham bass…

The Taylor family is part of a multi-act tribute to all genres of Chicago popular music. Of course, it would be nothing without the art of the blues, which their parents' generation brought to the big cities during the Great Migration.   Darryl Pitts, producer of the movie The Rhythm and the Blues based on the lives of Vera and Eddie Taylor, organized the Aug. 21 gala at Navy Pier restaurant Bar Sol to help fund the film's expansion to a full-length feature movie.  Larry, Demetria Brenda and Tim closed the…

Larry and the Soul Blues Healers again made a hit with Northwest Wisconsin fans in Durand for Blues on the Chippewa fest--both outdoors at Veterans Park and at the Corral Bar.  Abraham boogied on bass with Tim Taylor, drums, Brian Lupo guitar and special guest Rodney Brown blew everyone away on saxophone.

July 2024 found Larry and the Soul Blues Healers delighting seniors and younger folks at Bethel New Life, Taste of Lawndale and the Soul City Blues Fest on Chicago Avenue in Austin--where soul singer Cicero Blake was honored by friends of the Austin African American Business Network Assn.

Austin, the neighborhood on the farthest west of the West Side of Chicago, has at least three public libraries. The oldest, called Austin Branch at Central Ave. and Race Ave., was built in 1929--the year of the Great Depression and the year Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was born. Librarian Jo Willis decided to throw a birthday shindig Friday June 7 with Larry Taylor and the Soul Blues Healers, and some 100 neighbors and friends showed up, even some step dancers led by dance teacher Mr. Barak.  What a blast!

The Chicago-produced, Chicago-themed feature film The Rhythm and the Blues, was screened at the historic Lincoln Center in New York City’s African Film Festival, Saturday May 11, 2024 to a sold-out crowd. Actor Leon (The Temptations) stars as the frustrated unsung 1960s-era blues guitarist Eddie Taylor Sr., challenged by a corrupt industry, family drama, and British rockers' appropriation of his music. Broadway actor/bluesman Guy Davis appears as Eddie’s better-known road partner Jimmy Reed--racked…

VOTE HERE for Larry Taylor's “I Paid My Dues,” from the Nola-Blue CD  “Generations of Blues.” You can vote every day  til the “People's Voice” song  contest ends: 11:59 p.m   https://songwritingcompetition.com/peoplesvoice

Larry and his sister Brenda Taylor and Leon the actor, were among those on hand March 4 at Chicago's CineCity viewing theater for the soft premiere of “The Rhythm and the Blues.”  Producer/Director Darryl Pitts told the enthusiastic crowd, “This is just the beginning!”  Actors Greg Ging and Dev Kennedy, pllaying the music industry bad guys, drew playful boos during the Q& A session after the movie.

Pictured is Larry Taylor, right, with Bonni McKeown, original script writer, and Leon.

Actor Leon and actor/musician Guy Davis capture the audience in this 1960s period film based on Larry Taylor's story about his musical family.   The feature film, in production since 2015, produced and directed by Darryl Pitts, is to be screened in the February 2024 Pan African Arts and Film Festival in L.A..  Bonni McKeown is the initial screenwriter and producer.  Check out the trailer HERE .