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Harp

That title isn't offhand or whimsical. The instrument so inextricably associated with white Appalachian bluegrass has its roots in Africa several hundred years ago and was brought to the States by slaves. Taylor and his guests-Keb' Mo', Corey Harris, Don Vapple, Guy Davis and Alvin Youngblood Hart, all of whom play the banjo here-set out to bring it home by applying it to a series of blues-based originals and carefully chosen traditional covers. Gritty tales of wrongdoers and the wronged, lovers and haters, this is not entirely acoustic music-"Hey Joe," of Hendrix/Byrds renown, is pierced by Taylor's nasty guitar licks, and his "Absinthe" takes an ethereal turn via Hart's lap steel. There's a history lesson to be learned here, but Recapturing the Banjo doesn't aim to be a musicologist's wet dream-banjos (even in the hands of Bela Fleck) have never sounded this vibrant. Standout tracks: "Absinthe," "Five Hundred"

JEFF TAMARKIN

Relix

OTIS TAYLOR
Reclaimin!} the Banjo. Telarc
Like Taj Mahal, Otis Taylor creates records that are faithfully steeped in cultural tradition but still sound of the moment. On Recapturing the Banjo, Taylor and dream band of collaborators including Keb' Mo, Alvin Youngblood Hart and Corey Harris trace the most hillbilly of instruments back to its original African Roots (while fiving props to rock, blues and Creole music along the ). The album shifts from impossibly haunting dirges to downright bouncy ditties without sounding like a thrown-together pastiche. The album, which is mostly originals with a few rearranged traditional, is so strong in songwriting that the weakest link may be the fairly straightforward cover of "Hey Joe." Other wise lIfs pretty stellar throughout, with fleshed-out stories of slaves, black cowboys and good-old alcohol. There's enough of Taylor's trademark one-chord trance playing to keep it all driving, but it's the lighthearted fare like Don VaP.!'ie's joyous version of "Les Oignons" that gives the record such good flavor.  
       Andrew Paine Bradbury

Elmore

OTIS TAYLOR Recapturing the Banjo   (Telarc)

Longtime fans of Otis Taylor must sense that he recaptured the banjo awhile back-after all, he has won countless awards for his command of the instrument. Here, on his ninth release, he asserts the banjo's rightful place and African origins by surrounding himself with today's best blues banjo players: Guy Davis, Corey Harris, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Keb Mo' and the accomplished banjoist Don Vappie. "The banjo has become so closely associated with folk singers and bluegrass players,''' says Taylor. "Over the years, the instrument just lost touch with its roots, and I'm just trying to re-establish that connection." In the copious liner notes, music historian and premiere banjoist Dick Weissman describes the various styles played: Guy Davis' version of "Little Liza Jane" features the clawhammer picking style; Hart renders "Deep Blue Sea" is a modified traditional style; Keb Mo' plays with finger picks and Vappie offers a tenor banjo in an updated early New Orleans feel. You get the wonderful jug band exuberance in "Walk Right In," the popular tune originally penned by Gus Cannon, an African-American banjoist. You'll be whistling right along. Of course, Taylor's characteristically unique instrumentation is present with cornet, lap steel, piano, and the ethereal vocals of Taylor's daughter, Cassie. The session features nine Taylor originals, as well as one from Hart and one from Keb Mo'. Lyrically, Taylor speaks out against prejudice from both the black male and female as well as from the Native American's perspective. The exciting version of "Hey Joe" does Hendrix proud here with Taylor and Youngblood Hart mixing the banjo, absolutely mesmerizing lap steel, and Taylor's blistering electric guitar lead. Judging from a recent live performance in Nashville with Guy Davis, Taylor is hell bent on giving the banjo its due. This session features brilliant picking and high spirited energy throughout.

Jim Hynes

Front & Center

Otis Taylor Recapturing the Banjo  [Telarc]

The blues great – and former antiques dealer – traces the roots of the banjo

IT TURNS OUT the banjo, that staple of hillcountry and bluegrass music for a century, traces its origins even further back: African slaves brought the instrument to America in the 18th century. Surprised? Blues musician Otis Taylor was, and he had been playing banjo for more than 30 years. Now he's putting the instrument back in historical context with Recapturing the Banjo, an album of blues tunes which feature the instrument prominently. Taylor began playing the banjo with local musicians in 1964 when he was a teen growing up in Denver. "They'd teach me for free in between their lessons at the Denver Folklore Center:' he says from Leeds, England, where he's touring with Gary Moore. "That's how I learned to play instruments. I was a poor black kid." Along with guitar and harmonica, banjo has been a staple of Taylor's albums for years, first in the 70s and then again in the mid-'90s when he returned to performing after establishing a career as an antiques dealer and coaching an amateur bicycling team. Yet he didn't learn that the banjo was an African instrument until about 10 years ago. Taylor investigated the history and came away determined to reconnect the banjo to its roots. The idea of recording an entire album of banjo tunes occurred to him while participating in a workshop in 1999, and he mentioned the idea to Alvin Youngblood Hart at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in 2001. "He told me, 'Anytime you want to do it, give me a call:" Taylor says. Several years later, Taylor finally picked up the phone. Along with Hart, Taylor recruited Guy Davis, Corey Harris, Keb' Mo' and Don Vappie, sharing instrumental and vocal duties throughout. "There's a lot of other black banjo players, but I tried to get the ones with the best voices and skills:' Taylor says. "The only one I didn't get that I wanted was Taj Mahal." Taylor wrote seven of the 14 songs, some of them decades ago. Hart and Mo' contributed a track each, and the others are covers of songs well-known ("Hey Joe") and less so (Gus Cannon's "Walk Right In")-all arranged to make banjo the most dominant instrumental voice. "When you think of banjo, you don't think of black people, but it has such an incredible history:' Taylor says. "It's an educational piece, this album. It isn't just a record. It's to help enlighten people."

-Eric R. Danton