JUNE/JULY 2025 | 21 him, he hopes to avoid being pigeonholed as a solo artist. He wants people to listen with open ears. Among the guests on his album are his former boss, Anderson, on one of the record’s triumphant tracks, “Africa,” and the mercurial hip-hop original master of ceremonies, Big Daddy Kane, who drops crisp couplets on the joyous “Party.” “When people in popular culture hear jazz or smooth jazz, they think that’s sleepy music, but when they hear what I’m doing, they are surprised, even though it’s instrumental music,” Taylor said. “Instrumental music in our culture has a certain perception or stigma—people think it’s going to bore them—so it’s often a challenge for someone like me to get people to listen and hear what I’m doing with it. “It says more about the culture, though, than the music. So, I bring my personality, and I want the music to reflect that. I came from the gospel and R&B world when I migrated into smooth jazz, playing with Marcus and Brian. Before that, my music was very funk-driven, so I wanted to bring that to smooth jazz.” Taylor’s road to this point in his career has had many detours and destinations. He grew up in North Carolina and found his way into the national music world as a touring musician before he was 20 years old. From humble beginnings, big things often come. “My parents weren’t musical in the traditional sense, but my mom and sister sang at church—they weren’t serious—and there was gospel and soul music playing in my house,” he reflected. “My dad loved soul music. Johnnie Taylor, Little Milton, music like that. I had soul running through my veins. “I started with piano lessons, but because my instructor didn’t make it fun, and I found it mundane, I moved to trombone. I quit that because I didn’t like how it made my lip feel,” he said with a big laugh. “After awhile, my parents bought me a guitar, and it called me. I couldn’t figure out if I wanted to play lead guitar or bass, but I then saw Prince on television. The power with which he played, and how he commanded the stage. Right there, I knew that’s what I wanted to do.” He was recruited to play guitar in his teens for a local female gospel singer and began touring the country before turning professional and lighting stages on fire with his virtuoso playing. Taylor said that he came into his own as a player somewhere between 2006 and 2010, when he started booking more high-profile gigs. “I used to wonder if my sound would be accepted with all these great players out here. But I was getting recognition for my sound and my performance,” he said. “I’ve always been someone who will color outside the box, even when I was in kindergarten, I tried different things.” continued on page 22 Photo: Will Downing
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