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BLUESMAN OTIS TAYLOR JAMS AT WESLEYAN'S CFA, FEBRUARY 25

Middletown, CT, February 8, 2005—Wesleyan University's Center for the Arts continues the Crowell Concert Series' 30th anniversary season with blues musician and storyteller Otis Taylor. A virtuosic vocalist, guitarist, and harmonica player, Taylor has toured the country and released five albums in the last five years, sharing blues folklore with new generations. He performs in the Crowell Concert Hall on Friday, February 25, at 8pm. Tickets are $19 for the general public and $17 for non-Wesleyan students and seniors. The performance is co-sponsored by the Center for African American Studies. More information is available by calling the box office at 860-685-3355; advance ticket purchases are recommended.

Otis Taylor presents a fresh vision of the blues that simultaneously honors the music's legacy and moves the genre forward. The list of musicians with whom Taylor has worked reveals much about his passion and talent for the music: Muddy Waters, Otis Spann, Jimi Hendrix, and others have all shared the stage with Taylor over the course of his career. Both The New York Times and The Washington Post lauded Taylor's CD Truth Is Not Fiction as one of the best albums of 2003, and Taylor was awarded the 2002 W.C. Handy Blues Award for Best New Artist. The Kansas City Star has described Taylor's creative style as “deep blues the way its delta architects meant it to be played—as reality.”

Much of Taylor's music addresses the experiences of African Americans and social justice issues, and his choice of instruments even reflects the cultural importance of his music—in addition to guitar, Taylor also plays the banjo and mandolin, explaining that “the banjo came from Africa. There's a lot of cross-pollination that people forget.” While an active musician in his youth, Taylor did not perform for nearly two decades until the release of his album Blue Eyed Monster in 1995 and the album When Negroes Walked the Earth in 1998, which earned the attention of Blue Note Records. Now in high demand as a performer, Taylor will follow his appearance at Wesleyan with a show at the South by Southwest Music Festival in Texas.

An experienced and committed music educator, Taylor is an active member of the “Blues in the Schools” program sponsored by the National Blues Foundation. Taylor will share his experiences and talents with Wesleyan students in a masterclass on Saturday February 26, and will also lead a music workshop for student guitarists at Middletown's Green Street Arts Center.

The CFA's Crowell Concert Series will conclude on April 29 with a performance by pianist Peter Serkin. More information about the series is available at (860) 685-3355.

The Center for the Arts ( www.wesleyan.edu/cfa ) is an 11-building complex on the Wesleyan campus that houses the departments of art and art history, film studies, music, theater and dance. It serves as a cultural center for the region, the state and New England. The CFA includes the 400-seat Theater, the 260-seat Cinema, the World Music Hall (a non-Western performance space), the 414-seat Crowell Concert Hall and the Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery.         

Tickets for Otis Taylor can be purchased via phone or in person at the University box office. The box office is located on the first floor of the Davenport Campus Center. For more information about CFA performances and events, call (860) 685-3355, or visit www.wesleyan.edu/cfa.

Box Office Phone: (860) 685-3355
Box Office Fax: (860) 685-3935
E-mail: boxoffice@wesleyan.edu
Address: Wesleyan University Box Office, 222 Church Street, Middletown, CT 06459-0001

*Performers and schedule are subject to change.