September 2003 Feature Story

Koko Taylor

by Marisa Bell

9/25 thru 9/28 @ Jazz Alley, Seattle (see cal for times); 9/30 @ The Yale, Vancouver, BC, 8pm

Throughout the course of her almost 40-year-long career, Koko Taylor has garnered praise from critics, music-lovers, and fellow musicians alike. Koko won the 2003 W.C. Handy Blues Award for Traditional Female Artist of the Year. She currently holds 23 W.C. Handy Blues Awards, more than any other artist. She appeared in the films Wild At Heart, Mercury Rising, and Blues Brothers 2000. Koko has also been a featured guest on Late Night With David Letterman, Late Night With Conan O’Brien, CBS-TV’s This Morning, National Public Radio’s All Things Considered, CBS-TV’s Early Edition, and FOX-TV’s drama New York City Undercover, as well as countless other regional television programs. Popular magazines such as People, Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, and Life are just a few of the national publications to run features and reviews on Taylor. Living Blues spotlighted Koko in a 12-page cover story and Blues Revue ran a major feature on her just last year. Her most recent studio album, Royal Blue, received a 2000 Grammy nomination. Her most recent release, Deluxe Edition is a retrospective featuring highlights from Koko’s years with Alligator (the album also includes one previously unreleased song). Described by the Washington Post as “raucous and raunchy” with a “rafter-rattling voice”, Koko Taylor is considered by many to be the undisputed “Queen of the Blues.”