Melvin Taylor was born in 1959 in Jackson, Mississippi. His musical roots however have always been in Chicago, where he moved with his family when he was 3 years old. The proverbial musical prodigy, he started playing guitar at age 6, learning from his uncle Floyd Vaughan, and his great aunt, Rosetta Tharpe.

 

Melvin was influenced and inspired by some of the world’s greatest blues players, many of whom lived in or near his Chicago neighborhood.  He taught himself slide playing, finger-picking, and flat-picking styles from listening to his favorite artists.  By the time he was a teenager, Melvin’s incredible ability and unique style were already grabbing attention on Maxwell Street.

 

In 1980, he joined veterans Pinetop Perkins, and Willie “Big Eyes”  Smith of the Muddy Waters Band to form the Legendary Blues Band and tour Europe.  Melvin made an immediate impact on the European circuit, and while in France, he cut his first two albums - Blues on the Run(1982), and Plays the Blues for You (1984).

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Following his return to the US, Melvin recorded four additional CD’s for Evidence Music - Bang That Bell (1999), Dirty Pool (2002), Melvin Taylor and the Slack Band (2003), and Rendezvous With the Blues (2004).

 

Amazing technical proficiency, an impeccable sense of timing and phrasing, with full rich tones and a texture all his own, have placed Taylor firmly in the upper echelon of the world’s six string masters. Taylor is embarking on a career where few have the chops to follow.

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