Don’t be surprised if you hear someone screaming inside Red Butte Garden this Friday night, and the sound sends shivers down your spine. It’s just Koko Taylor.
Never heard of Koko Taylor?
That’s OK. Because once you’ve heard Taylor’s ground-shaking blues vocals, you’ll never forget her.
Hailed by critics, musicians and fans alike as the undisputed “Queen of the Blues,” this Memphis native’s voice is as emotionally charged as a thunder- storm. Combine the deep, earthy sound of Nina Simone, the gritty street-wise growl of Billie Holliday and the vocal capacity of Etta James, and you have a near facsimile to the range, depth and force that Taylor’s voice carries.
With a career that spans more than 40 years and contains a record 25 W.C. Handy Awards-AKA the Blues Musician Awards-as well as a Grammy for “Best Traditional Blues Musician,” Taylor arrives in Utah this Friday night for Red Butte Garden’s Summer Concert Series.
Taylor’s songs treat a range of subjects, running the gamut from beer bongs to no-good-double-crossing best friends to wreaking terror on men that have treated her poorly. Taylor speaks the language of the blues, but with a specifically feminine perspective. Her lyrics are brusque and painfully realistic. Rather than lament the loss of a former lover, Taylor’s music seeks to wash away the past with a force and violence unparalleled by any other contemporary blues singer. In a genre often misconstrued as a “boys-only club,” Taylor carries the torch of feminism like a flame-thrower, laying waste to all in her path.
Although Taylor turned 70 in 2005, she hasn’t lost any of her vocal sting or musical relevance. Rather, much like a decent merlot, Taylor’s voice only gets better with age. Her 2000 release, Royal Blue, still harbors enough feeling and grit that listeners may mistake Taylor’s voice and subject matter for something more appropriate for a person half her age.
Opening for Taylor on Friday is one of Utah’s own homegrown blues duos, The Legendary Porch Pounders. Playing with only a guitar, harmonica and porch pad (an oak box constructed to mimic a typical bass drum), guitarist Dan Weldon and harmonica-fiend Brad Wheeler construct a variety of songs that mimic the sound of a traditional three-or-four- man band.
The two won the top prize at last year’s South By Southwest Blues Competition-the premiere competition for blues in the western United States. The Porch Pounders’ music ranges from singer/songwriter ballads to gritty delta blues. Weldon and Wheeler have released a handful of albums to date and are considered among Utah’s best-kept musical secrets.
So bring a blanket to Red Butte this Friday night as Weldon and the Porch Pounders open a vein of pain and Koko Taylor sets the stage on fire. It may be summer, but don’t be surprised if you find yourself shivering. That’s just the music.
Koko Taylor castigates her legions of ex-lovers tomorrow night at Red Butte Garden.