'QUEEN OF THE BLUES', KOKO TAYLOR- Greenwich Village

Written by Backstage Bruce

      New York City, the late eighties and early nineties, crime at an all time high, crack everywhere, thousands of murders every year. You walk through the wrong door and it could be the adventure of your life. I landed my first job in NYC, a waiter in a midtown restaurant, a bunch of co-workers were getting together for drinks later on, I so didn't want to go. 

    The thought of sitting in some dark bar drinking, throwing away money when I haven't even secured an apartment yet, did not seem very appealing. Plus a few of these people were kind of cliquey/ snarky and I really didn't want to be around some of them. Most of them are really nice but a few I could do without, I guess like almost every workplace. But here I was, in a new city, at a new job, it's a new start, my social skills could use some work so I decided to go. I plan to meet up with everyone there. I take a cab over, step out and start walking to the front door of the bar, or so I thought.

     I heard music and walked towards it. I got to the door, the music was coming from, opened it up and walked on in. Whoa, wait a minute, where was I? This wasn't some dark, dingy bar, like I was expecting. It was some kind of performance space/ lounge on West 14th street. There was nobody around when I walked in. 

    Everyone was in the show room area. I proceeded real slowly, cautiously still towards the music. The place had a very classic, preserved look with beautiful decor and lighting. I walked down a little hallway, turned the corner and saw people. There was a huge lobby/ bar area. It was really nice with a few plush couches. 

    The bar was magnificent, it was very long and looked like a craftsman hand carved it from wood. There were a few people sitting and chatting on the couches, no one I knew. The music was louder now. There was definitely a concert going on and it was time for a beer.

     

    I step up, get a beer and retrace the last five minutes of my life. Where am I? How did I get in here? Where is everyone else? Who is this performing? Where is the music coming from? No one mentioned anything about a concert. I realized I didn't really watch exactly where I was going after I got out of the cab, I just walked toward the music. 

    The people I was meeting up with were probably sitting in a bar next door. That's fine, I was where I needed to be. I continued walking toward the music, the showroom area. At least a thousand people packed in. The lady singing was 'The Queen Of The Blues', Miss Koko Taylor with her wonderful band The Blues Machine. This was the first time I heard of her and them and this is what I moved to NYC for, new culturally enlightening experiences, much like this one.

     She sang the blues magnificently well. The show was very entertaining, so captivating. Everyone did a tremendous job, the musicians, the backing vocalist, everyone on that stage. In the 90-minutes of what I did see, she sang a wide range of songs, from slow, sultry tunes to numbers with more of a big band feel. The entire brass section really came alive in the more upbeat, danceable, Rhythm & Blues jams. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of the performance. She encored with her biggest hit 'Wang Dang Doodle'. You can tell by the reaction of the audience this was the one they waited in anticipation for.

     The next day I had to find out more about her. I learned she is the 'Queen Of The Blues' from Chicago's south side, can sing any type of music but is most famous for her bluesy style, she has performed with almost everyone including: Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, to name a few. Her biggest hit was in 1965, with her version of 'Wang Dang Doodle' written by the late, great, legendary, blues musician Willie Dixon.

     Unfortunately Cora Taylor Harris passed away in June of 2009, just three weeks after she performed at the Blues Music Awards. She had been touring her latest album, 'Old School', which she released two years prior, in 2007. 80-years-old and she was still going strong, recording and touring. I feel so fortunate to have seen her perform. I definitely chose the right door that night.