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Dear Subscriber,

This fifth issue of our newsletter features someone whom I met not by chance at all. Her name is Melody Cole and meeting her has fulfilled the wish of my book, IN PURSUIT OF A MELODY, simply because Melody plays dynamic piano and will be accompanying me in my presentation of WOMEN IN JAZZ.

Our Blues Woman, this month, is Koko Taylor, who has resurfaced to experience a stellar career on the international music scene.

We hope you will enjoy reading it and we welcome your ideas, suggestions and submissions for future issues.

Love and music,
Diva JC
Publisher

JAZZ WOMEN

MELODY COLE

Born in Jamaica, W.I., Melody Cole was brought to the U.S. at a young age. She was raised in Atlanta, GA, where she worked with the National Black Arts Festival (NBAF) for many years, hosting various artists who performed, including Max Roach and Maya Angelou.

Cole studied the classics from the age of five and sang, for years, in Church, which nurtured the soulful and spiritual feelings her playing evokes. When she discovered jazz, she fused the musical forms with her sense of originality and elegance to create her own refreshing expression in the world of music.

Cole's first recording, "Melody Plays Bud 'n Monk", features her unique arrangements and interpretations of the music of Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk. Her latest release, "Simply Sacred" offers piano renditions of sacred songs, blending her technical skills with a depth of spirit to produce a reflective, meditative, soul-stirring work of art.

She has performed for the Steinway Society's "Pianorama", Atlanta Jazz Festival, Atlanta Tribute to Nelson Mandela, Dogwood Festival, Sloss Furnace Blues Festival, Turner Broadcasting Trumpet Awards and Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines.

Besides being a notable pianist, song stylist, arranger and producer, Cole exhibits enormous talent as a visual artist, creating works in oil, watercolor and pencil.

LINKS:

• Melody Plays Bud 'n Monk

• Simply Sacred

• America Is For Us All (2007)

• www.myspace.com/stonecolesoup

• www.myspace.com/worldmusicianaries

BLUES WOMEN

KOKO TAYLOR

Born Cora Walton, in 1928, in Bartlett, Tennessee, Koko Taylor was an orphan by age 11. An early love of chocolate earned her the lifelong nickname Koko. Along with her five brothers and sisters, Koko developed a love for music from a mixture of gospel she heard in church and blues she heard on radio stations beaming in from Memphis. Even though her father encouraged her to sing only gospel music, Koko and her siblings would sneak out back with their homemade instruments and play the blues. With one brother accompanying on a guitar strung with baling wire and another brother on a fife made out of a corncob, Koko began her career as a blues woman. As a youngster, Koko listened to as many blues artists as she could. Bessie Smith and Memphis Minnie were particular influences, as were Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf and Sonny Boy Williamson. She would listen to their songs over and over again. Although she loved to sing, she never dreamed of joining their ranks.

Koko Taylor is Chicago’s and the world’s undisputed "Queen Of The Blues". “It’s a true feeling that comes from the heart, not just something that comes out of my mouth. Blues is what I love, and singing the blues is what I always do.” And, in many ways, blues is what saved Koko Taylor’s life. Back in November of 2003, following emergency surgery for gastrointestinal bleeding, Taylor’s condition grew even more serious. She was struggling just to breathe. Family and friends feared the worst as she was placed on a ventilator. But her forceful will to live, and to sing the blues again, brought her back. Slowly but surely she recovered, and by the following spring she was back on stage singing.

Her resurgence not only led her back to the stage, but also led her back to the recording studio. With her first album in seven years, the aptly titled Old School (AL 4915), Taylor once again shows the world what she does so well. From foot-stomping barnburners to powerful slow blues, Koko proves in an instant that her blues are joyous and life-affirming, powerful and soul-stirring.

With Old School, Taylor brings it all back home, supported by a band of veteran musicians and young revivalists. Singing like she did for Chess Records early in her career, Taylor belts out a set of material that could easily have topped the blues charts in the 1950s, and will certainly reach the top of the blues world today.

More. . .

KOKO TAYLOR'S Discography

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