Taz Taylor was born and raised just outside Birmingham, England. His two earliest musical memories are "Parisienne Walkways sizeby Gary Mooreand "Since You Been Gone" by Rainbow. "I remember sitting in the middle of the floor in front of the T.V watching Rainbow perform "Since You Been Gone" on Top of the Pops. I was transfixed" says Taz. He took up the guitar shortly afterwards and soon discovered the playing of Michael Schenker, via the UFO classic "Strangers in the NightThe early '80s was a great time to be obsessed with guitar, albums by the Michael Schenker Group, Gary Moore, Van Halen and Ozzy Osbourne (with Randy Rhoads) became both the soundtrack to Taz's life and his subconscious music teacher.
Taz spent almost a decade working on his craft, no band, no jam sessions; he was something of a musical recluse, holed up in his practice room in San Diego California, where he had moved to in January '97. The result of this was the highly acclaimed instrumental album "[/size]Caffeine Racer". Taz then set about putting together a band to promote the album. Bob Miller was drafted to play Keyboards, Dirk Krause on Bass and a succession of drummers!!
When it came time to record again, the whole band knew that they wanted vocals this time around. Taz put in a call to his all time favorite vocalist Graham Bonnet. He figured, he may as well start at the top of his list and work down. As it turned out, Graham got in touch just a couple of days later and they hit it off instantly. "Probably because we are a couple of English guys in exile here in Southern California!" says Taz.
The CD “Welcome to America” (ESM137) was an instant hit worldwide and with Graham Bonnet on vocals it’s not hard to see why. The results speak for themselves. If you love that Rainbow/ Bonnet sound then “Welcome” will not disappoint, it is a tremendous rock album bursting with melody and well written songs.
So how do you follow on from Graham? Enter Keith Slack a vocalist and frontman that has already proved his worth with solo recordings and from his time with MSG and Steelhouse Lane(with Mike Slamel). So how does he compare, well Keith has an uncanny rasp in his vocals that bears a resemblance to Graham but he sounds really fresh and his style suits the fearsome riffs and licks that Taz turns out with apparent ease…. Check out songs like “Razor Tongue”, “The Fugitive” and “Wait no More”.
Since Taz Taylor Band's 2006 release 'Welcome To America' Taz and TTB drummer Val Trainor have toured and played in 9 countries. From Hollywood, California to London, England to Prague in the Czech Republic. And the chemistry shows on their new release "Straight up". Built on the solid grooves of Val's drumming and the powerful yet melodic Guitar playing of Taz, this album is an attention grabber. Taz also covers bass playing duties and the occasional keyboard part.
With very special guest appearance on the title track and the album's sole instrumental is one of Taz' lifelong musical heroes, Deep Purple, Ozzy Osborne, Keyboard Maestro Don Airey, who's piano and strings close the album in class and style. An album not to be missed and surely destined to be one of the stand out releases of the year
As Taz proudly says “I simply wanted to play my best and communicate”. We think he has done just that.
Mer 15 Avr - 13:12
Nouvel album Straight Up avec un nouveau chanteur succédant à Graham BONNET. Il s'agit de Keith Slack (Steelhouse Lane, MSG)