Andre Taylor, son of a Bluesman, was born on the Southeast side of Chicago. His father, a genuine Blues guitarist from Tennessee, and his Mother a Gospel singer, both provided the foundation for Andre’s journey of the “Chicago Blues.” He discovered the guitar at age five, and soon began performing for family and friends. With the essence of the Blues close at hand, including the founders of the “Chicago Blues Sound,” the late Willie Dixon and Muddy Waters, it was inevitable that one day Andre Taylor would be a Great Bluesman. Combining traditional Chicago Style Blues with his own dynamic showmanship, Andre has set the stage for contemporary Blues in Chicago and the World.
Inspired by a variety of performers, including the late Clementine and Buddy Scott, music and entertaining have dominated his life. When Andre was fourteen, the sounds of the late great Lefty Dizz, Junior Wells, and Hound Dog Taylor at the Checkerboard Lounge’s “Monday Morning Blues Jam” had a powerful effect on his future showmanship. Andre became the student of three time Grammy Award winner, Buddy Guy, host of the jam, who would be Andre’s strongest advocate and mentor.
Assimilating both Southern Blues and the Westside Chicago Blues sounds, Andre’s abilities as an innovative guitarist soon unfolded. His performance is one of kind, worldwide. His innate skills which include playing with his teeth and tongue to flipping the guitar, have been recognized by the late Lovee Lee, Pinetop Perkins, Willie Big Eyes Smith, and the Queen of the Blues herself, Koko Taylor!
In 1998 Andre severely severed two of his left fingers from the result of a gardening accident. Both were successfully reattached with titanium pins during a four hour surgery. Six months later Andre landed a weekly spot at Chicago’s premier Blues Club, Kingston Mines! With his flamboyant dress, intoxicating showmanship, and captivating Blues spirit, Andre once again stole the show.
Fascinating audiences from Richard Gere, Brian Dennehy, Tia Carrera, and the Alice Cooper band to Peter Fonda, Andre’s guitar performers have electrified the stage with a sexy and raw style. Solid vocals and amazing guitar tricks continue to distinguish Andre Taylor as Chicago’s most versatile Bluesman. Chicago radio station WJKL, the Blues X-plosion labeled him as a “Flashy young Guitarist…with one of the tightest bands in Chicago.” He is a “Favorite of the Blues X-plosion and has thousands of loyal fans.
Recently, Andre has performed with some of the world’s top artists including Sugar Blue from the Rolling Stones, Buddy Miles, Otis Rush, Big Time Sarah, Susan Tedeschi, Marvin Ruffin, and Trace Ellington. In 2001 Andre was nominated BEST BLUES ENTERTAINER at the Chicago Music Awards along with Buddy Guy, Koko Taylor, Tyrone Davis, Son Seals, Lonnie Brooks, and the Kinsey Report. In March 2001 Andre released his first CD, “Playing Hard,” recorded live at Kingston Mines. That same year in association with Paramount Pictures, Andre Co-wrote the title soundtrack to the David Isay film “Our America,” earning a Sundance Film Festival nomination. In 2002, The American Blues Historical Society of Canada awarded Andre, “Master of Blues, Funk, and Jazz.”
Returning from Latvia in November 2003, Andre is currently on his studio CD “A Chicago Blues Life,” which is due for release in the spring of 2004. Andre has caught and captured the attention of all who cross his path. Guitarist, vocalist, and superb showman Andre Taylor is an enormous talent, who is leading the sound of contemporary Blues in the new millennium.
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