BIOGRAPHY

Melvin Taylor was
born in 1959 in Jackson, Mississippi. His musical roots however have always been in Chicago,
where he moved with his music-loving, guitar playing family when he was 3 years old. The
proverbial musical prodigy, started playing guitar at age 6. He learned from his uncle
Floyd Vaughan, and his great aunt, Rosetta Tharpe. Melvin was influenced and inspired
by some of the world’s greatest blues players - many of whom lived in or near his Chicago
neighborhood - Albert King, Jimmy Reed, Wes Montgomery and later Jimi Hendrix.
By the time he was a teenager, Melvin’s incredible ability and unique style was already grabbing
attention on Maxwell Street. In 1980, he joined veterans Pinetop Perkins, and “Big Eyes” Willie
Smith of the Muddy Waters Band to form the Legendary Blues Band and tour Europe. Melvin
made an immediate impact on the European circuit, and while in France, he cut his first two albums -
Blues on the Run(1982), and Plays the Blues for You (1984).
Following his return to the US, Melvin recorded four additional CD’s for Evidence Music -
Bang That Bell (1999), Dirty Pool (2002), Melvin Taylor and the Slack Band (2003), and Rendezvous
With the Blues (2004).
Currently under his own production, Melvin has released - Beyond the Burning Guitar (2010), Sweet
Taste of Guitar (2012), and Taylor Made (2013).
Amazing technical proficiency, an impeccable sense of timing and phrasing, with full rich tones
and a texture all his own, have placed Taylor firmly in the upper echelon of the world’s six
string masters. Taylor is embarking on a career where few have the chops to follow.