Definition of a Circle
Crackling with hypnotic energy, Otis Taylor's eighth album infuses his cutting-edge blues with a dose of rock'n'roll exuberance. The blasting opener "Little Betty" gets some rocket fuel from blues-rock legend Gary Moore's marvelously expressive, raw guest guitar as well as from drummer John Kelly, whose propulsion ignites several of these dozen tunes. Ultimately, though, Taylor's one-chord magic comes from his knack for repeating catchy riffs until they become a seductive blur--a hip-shaking platform for his colorful explorations of love, war, joy, deprivation, and racial struggle. He's also got a way with textures, spinning dirty guitar, prickly electric mandolin, his daughter Cassie's haunting alto singing, and his own appealingly hoarse baritone into mesmeric arrangements for tunes like the Hurricane Katrina contemplation "They Wore Blue"  that owe as much to Pink Floyd as to Muddy Waters. Taylor also pushes the envelope hard with "Long Long Life," which blends jazz star Hiromi Uchara's manic piano improvisations with Ron Miles's free-form cornet as Taylor intones a curse on a disdainful lover. It's a brilliant collision of styles and yet another fiery testimonial to Taylor's unique artistic vision.--Ted Drozdowski