JAMES TAYLOR QUARTET"MESSAGE FROM THE GODFATHER"
AUG 21, 2001
UBIQUITY
1 Side Stepping 4:07
2 Chalkpit 3:01
3 Message from the Godfather 5:32
4 Who Put a Hole in My Head 6:20
5 Splat 3:35
6 Willma Will 3:23
7 Tough Chicken 5:04
8 Isabella Boogaloo 5:37
9 Me Che Cosa? 7:59
10 When in Rome 5:59
All Tracks by Taylor
Gary Crockett - Bass
Neil Robinson - Drums
David Taylor - Guitar
James Taylor - Organ
John Willmott - Saxophone, Flute
REVIEW
by Scott Yanow
The music on this CD by the James Taylor Quartet (which is really a five-piece group) is purposely retro. Taylor (no, not that James Taylor!) is a British keyboardist who on this set sticks to the Hammond B-3 organ. The goal was to recapture the flavor of a Prestige or Blue Note soul-jazz session circa 1967-71. The group (Taylor, guitarist David Taylor, bassist Gary Crockett, drummer Neil Robinson, and John Willmott on saxophones and flute) are successful in bringing back the feel of the era. What is missing are any memorable melodies or original ideas, but since the groove is the thing, this set is successful within its limited scope, and easily recommended to soul-jazz organ collectors.
John Willmott - Saxophone, Flute
REVIEW
by Scott Yanow
The music on this CD by the James Taylor Quartet (which is really a five-piece group) is purposely retro. Taylor (no, not that James Taylor!) is a British keyboardist who on this set sticks to the Hammond B-3 organ. The goal was to recapture the flavor of a Prestige or Blue Note soul-jazz session circa 1967-71. The group (Taylor, guitarist David Taylor, bassist Gary Crockett, drummer Neil Robinson, and John Willmott on saxophones and flute) are successful in bringing back the feel of the era. What is missing are any memorable melodies or original ideas, but since the groove is the thing, this set is successful within its limited scope, and easily recommended to soul-jazz organ collectors.
BORN: London, England
Biography
by John Bush
Reportedly the band whose music coined the term acid jazz (when a British journalist struggled to describe it), the James Taylor Quartet has explored spy-soundtrack soul-jazz and funk since the group's beginnings in the mid-'80s. Originally playing the Hammond B-3 organ in the U.K. mod revival band the Prisoners, James Taylor formed his own jazz quartet in 1985 and began playing music similar to the rare-groove jazz-funk then in vogue around London. By the early '90s, that movement had spawned acid jazz and the James Taylor Quartet found itself at the forefront of a vibrant young club scene, even though Taylor was a decade-long veteran by that time.The Prisoners had emerged from Kent in 1982, and released two albums, A Taste of Pink and The Wisermiserdemelza, before Taylor quit in the mid-'80s (the group imploded after just one more studio album). Taylor quickly formed a quartet around ex-Prisoner Allan Crockford on bass, drummer Simon Howard, and James' own brother David on guitar.The James Taylor Quartet recorded for several small labels during 1985, but a 1986 session for Radio 1 DJ John Peel got the group signed to Re-Elect the President Records, which released a 1987 mini-LP of covers, Mission Impossible. After The Money Spyder appeared that same year, the James Taylor Quartet moved to Urban/Polydor for 1988's Wait a Minute. Not long after, however, Howard and Crockford left to play with another ex-Prisoner, Graham Day, in the Prime Movers. Now just a duo, James and David began recruiting studio musicians to fill in the instrumental gaps from album to album, later building the band up to a sextet (though the name stayed the same) with John Willmott on saxophone and flute, bassist Gary Crockett, drummer Neil Robinson, and trumpeter Dominick Glover. A contract with Acid Jazz Records resulted in increased American distribution through Hollywood Records, which reissued Mission Impossible and The Money Spyder as well as the group's 1995 album In the Hand of the Inevitable. The Penthouse Suite and (A Few Useful Tips About) Living Underground both followed in 2000. Bigger Picture was issued earlier the next year.
