Koko Taylor - Old School (12 tracks) +Album Reviews

One of her best!!!!

Willy | Hazlet, N.J. | 04/08/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Koko has never sounded better.This is the best cd since Queen of the blues.Five orginials,a couple of Willie Dixon's and a great cover of Magic Sam's All your love.

Her band is great and with Billy Branch on harp and a few with Steady Rollin' Bob Margolin on slide guitar they really cook.This is the best Chicago blues cd so far this year."

Koko is Really Good but Band Could Lighten It a Little

R. Weinstock | Falls Church, VA USA | 04/17/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Its been several years since Koko Taylor has had a new album. This is remedied by the new Alligator release, "The Old School." As the title suggests, the recording is directed to hard-hitting, old-school Chicago blues and includes five interpretations (most definitely not copies) of older songs along with some originals that Chicago's Blues Queen handles in her own hold-nothing back style. One track is by The Blues Machine, and the other eleven tracks have a studio band led by Criss Johnson and drummer Willie `The Touch' Sutton and guest appearances from Bob Margolin, Billy Branch an Kaz Kazanoff. Most of the new tunes are from Koko and 'Gonna Buy Me a Mule' is a striking song as she tells her man she's gonna take the place of him and the jaunty warning 'You Better Watch Your Step,' with Billy Branch (excellent through) playing some Jimmy Reed inspired harp. Bob Margolin adds slide guitar to Memphis Minnie's 'Black Rat,' and Lefty Dizz's 'Bad Avenue.' The arrangements of both tunes are a bit cluttered and the performances come off as too hectic. Criss Johnson who did the arrangements on this album, would have done well to have listened to Koko's first Alligator album, "I Got What It Takes," and have allowed more spaces in the backing, and not have come across overbearing like so much recent Chicago styled blues of the past few decades. I have no fault with Koko's performances as she sings really well here sounding so at home with the material. Its also nicely programmed with very nice covers of a couple songs associated with Muddy Waters, "Don't Go No Further," and "Young fashioned Ways." Just wish the attempt at being `old school' by the band had a bit more of a lighter swinging groove than they play with here. If I was giving this stars, 4 1/2 to Koko and 3 for the backing, or overall 4 stars."

She's still the Queen of Chicago Blues

BDH | Massachusetts USA | 05/17/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Old School is the new release from blues diva Koko Taylor, and just as the CD title declares, it's all about music that's the real deal. The atmosphere takes the listener right back to a simpler yet arduous era in time. As the vocal legend states on the CD liner, "This album is hardcore blues, down in the basement, far as you go. This album is the kind of blues I was listening to down south and when I first came to Chicago." She's talking about 1951. Seated at the back of a Greyhound bus, Koko arrived with no money and nothing but a box of Ritz Crackers. She left behind an existence of hard times and hard labor in the southern cotton fields and farms, only to find herself in a new life that wasn't much easier. However, the Chicago clubs on Saturday nights spurred excitement with the live shows of Little Walter, Muddy Waters, Otis Spann and others. Frequenting those clubs was her shining light.

An interesting thing about a new release from a seasoned blues veteran such as Koko Taylor, other than Koko herself, is that you know there's going to be some brilliant players on it. Musicians new and old makeup the three bands used to record this collection of old school music. To say there are a few fine guitarists on the CD is an understatement for sure. Brookline, Massachusetts' own Steady Rollin' Bob Margolin, of Muddy Waters and Johnny Winter fame, plays guitar and slide, while longtime Koko Taylor guitarist Criss Johnson, known also for his stints with Roy Buchanan and Otis Clay, plays guitar and shares the Producer role alongside Alligator President Bruce Iglauer and Koko. Vino Louden is on the record as well, Koko's lead guitarist and bandleader for the past ten years, as is Japanese born and bred Shun Kikuta, a well-known player in the Chicago area. Billy Branch's harmonica playing is incredible, and it often contains that James Cotton ruggedness. The piano skill of Brother John Kattke, also a prominent windy city pianist and guitarist, is truly amazing throughout. He adds stylish eloquence to much of the material. I could fill a page naming all of the fine musicians and others involved in making this record, but what's important is that it's Koko Taylor.

Koko invokes the spirit of the Chess Records era once again with five original compositions and seven others in Old School. She's certainly the purveyor of the 'feeling' she has for this fine American music. Without a doubt one of the great living blues icons, it's good to hear that her health problems of recent haven't gotten the better of her, and that she still possesses her potent vocal talent. Albeit it's her first recorded release in seven years, but Koko Taylor proves once again she's still the Queen of Chicago Blues."

Traditional fare with some standout moments

David Bradford | Cary, NC USA | 05/23/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The title of Koko Taylor's new CD, Old School, is a reaffirmation of the obvious. Taylor's formula hasn't wavered since she recorded Willie Dixon's "Wang Dang Doodle" in the early sixties. She makes no concession to modern musical styles, and she doesn't trouble herself with musical nuances like changes in dynamics: this is traditional, full-bore, overdriven Chicago Blues dressed in the same clothes it wore when it got off the Greyhound from Memphis.

So that begs the question: Given that unwavering consistency, why add yet another Taylor to the blues shelf?

The most compelling reason is the backup band. Although most of the arrangements here are typically too busy--it seems every musician has to be there on every beat--there are moments when Bob Margolin and Criss Johnson's guitars sting through the mix to remind us that there's yet some room left in the tradition-bound twelve-bar form for a bit of unique expression and exceptional fretwork. Most remarkable of all is the harmonica accompaniment of Billy Branch. Branch's full-throated harp on pieces like "Black Rat" is reminiscent of James Cotton's standout work with Muddy Waters, who was once Koko's male counterpart in the Chess rotation. Branch's work on "Money Is The Name of the Game," gives the tune a much-needed plaintive quality that Taylor's flat-out stridency (and tendency to lead the beat rather than lag it) fails to provide.

The benchmark of the album is the closer, Willie Dixon's, "Young Fashioned Ways." It's the only tune on the album where Taylor is backed by a band billed as "The Blues Machine." Sparse and muscular, The Blues Machine leaves space in the music where Taylor's energy has room to seep out. In this revived Dixon number, the 1950's Chess Records machine roars back to life."

"This album is hard core blues, down in the basement, far as

Docendo Discimus | Vita scholae | 08/01/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"And Koko Taylor continues: "...This album is the kind of blues I was listening to down South and when I first came to Chicago".

This is real blues, in other words. Gritty, greasy Chicago blues a la Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf. Biting drums, clanging R&B piano, and about half of these twelve tracks are graced by the presence of harpist Billy Branch as well.

Koko Taylor has penned five of these twelve numbers herself; the rest include two songs by Willie Dixon and one by Magic Sam. Fidelity is uniformly excellent, as are the arrangements, and the band is just about as good as it gets. Taylor's long-time guitarist Criss Johnson, "Brother" John Kattke at the piano, and several appearances by the aforementioned Mr Billy Branch and by Muddy Waters' former guitarist Bob Margolin, who plays howling slide guitar on a powerful cover of Memphis Minnie's "Black Rat". This is one of five or six tracks to feature both Margolin and Branch, and the combination is deadly!

There aren't any great surprises here, just hard and heavy, no-frills electric blues. Not every song is equally distinctive, sure, but when everything is so well arranged and played with such gusto, even a basically generic blues can come off sounding fresh and vibrant. And Taylor's voice is still strong, full of grit and character.

Highlights include the tough, swaggering "Piece of Man", the swinging piano-boogie of "You Ain't Worth a Good Woman" and "Better Watch Your Step", and Willie Dixon's irresistable, boasting "Don't Go No Further". But there are really no "lowlights" to be found; everything, from the slow grind of "Bad Avenue" to the harp-driven "Hard Pill to Swallow" is worth a listen. Many listens.

It is good to know that Koko Taylor is still around, still playing the blues. A lot of what people like to call "blues" these days is really rock, R&B or even pop, but this is the real thing. No posing, no sleekness, no overly slick production, just the blues, deep and raw and authentic."

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