Taylors organ sound first sears the ears and then goes straight to the feet
Garry Booth, BBC Music Magazine
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Stonemason
James Taylor, Hammond guru, stands with one foot planted firmly in the new millennium – and other, just as firmly, somewhere south of 1970. Releasing his 19th album in June 2002, The Exorcism, James has consistently remained at the forefront of the jazz funk scene since his debut fifteen years ago. JTQ’s first album in 1987, Mission Impossible, laid the foundation for what would become their signature sound: funked-up, sleazed-down, keyboard-driven jazz that could be Webster’s entry for “groovy.”
Despite JTQ’s obvious studio talents – James has collaborated with the likes of U2, Tina Turner, Manic Street Preachers, The Pogues as well as with Tom Jones on the multi-platinum album Reload – JTQ are best-known and loved for their memorable live performances. With James’ Hammond leading the way, JTQ jam out with driving horns, sly rhythms and kitschy-cool melodies. Renowned for their film and TV themes, live favourites include JTQ’s debut single “Blow Up,” the mesmerising “2001,” and of course, the inimitable, infamous “Starsky & Hutch.”
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2000 was just as turbo-charged as the rest of JTQ’s history. In support of Gut Records Album A Bigger Picture, JTQ toured Europe covering Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Germany, Greece, and Scandinavia as well as making their regular European festival appearances. A new LP ‘Swinging London’ – a collection of rare & unissued early tracks – was released on Strange Fruit in November followed by a UK tour. This year JTQ became the first international artist to perform in Belgrade post-Milosovic.
2001 saw James’ 1st Album for the San Francisco based Ubiquity label – ‘Message From The Godfather’. Blues & Soul described it ‘the best British Hammond album…one of the best two or three organ albums ever laid down.’ October 1st saw the release of ‘Hammond-ology,’ a 36-track history of the band to date on Sanctuary Records. James hit the live circuit again in the UK, Europe and the States and ended the year with his annual 7-night residency at The Jazz Cafe. ‘Room At The Top’, The JTQ album of 2002, featured cameos from the likes of Roy Ayers and Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull), and once more set new standards of insouciant Hammond grooviness.
2003 sees the mercurial Taylor once more pursuing a different musical tangent – his latest album, ‘The Oscillator’ is nothing less than a full-on, combo-orientated Hammond album, containing some of his most incisive work to date, a fertile and enquiring musical mind ever in pursuit of the Good Groove, and there are some select club dates promised in promotion of it. Watch this space!