Joe Taylor | "Westside Chill"

Like his sound and style, guitarist Joe Taylor’s inspiration balances big city grit and hustle with gentle and slow downhome charm. His sixth album, “Westside Chill,” captures his ardor and appreciation for both primary influences in his musical muse as well as in his lifestyle. Taylor wrote all ten songs on the new Moonwatcher Music release produced by four-time Grammy winner Steve Rosenthal and the collection marks the guitar slinger’s first contemporary jazz outing in seventeen years. The haunting nocturnal title track is collecting Spotify playlist adds and is moving up the radio singles chart.

For decades, Taylor split his time between living in New York City and escaping to the coast in the South Carolina Lowcountry. Now he spends most of his time nestled in by the water in the Lowcountry, his rural coastal surroundings informing the material he wrote for “Westside Chill.” Equally present is the New York City metropolis’s influence on the setlist. Taylor is joined on the album by jazz pianist Jeff Franzel, bassists Woody Lingle and Brian Stanley (Bryan Adams), drummer Steve Holley (Paul McCartney & Wings), percussionist Blair Shotts, and flutist John Ragusa.

Opening the record with the title cut that he wrote with Franzel, Taylor said, “This melody came to me on a quiet late-night walk home up Broadway on the Westside of New York City, feeling that chill wind blowing off the Hudson, seeing the streetlights in the snow.”

Decades ago, Taylor used to see the late bass legend Jaco Pastorius playing hoops in a Big Apple playground. Written with Lingle, who is featured prominently on “Jaco’s Court,” the track evokes those vivid memories and concludes with the sounds of a present-day basketball game played on that court.

“Back in the day, I would pass by this court, and there would be Jaco (Pastorius), in the twilight, playing a pickup game, perhaps before his gig at Seventh Ave. South or some other Village haunt. I go by there occasionally these days, and it feels like something of him still lingers,” recalled Taylor.

Taylor remembers another late icon, Glen Campbell, on “Mr. Campbell,” a soothing melodic and congenial tribute befitting the singer-songwriter country-pop crossover star.

“Menemsha Fog” showcases Taylor in a jazz trio configuration flanked by Holley and Stanley, playing his cool electric guitar in a dark, misty, tension-riddled soundscape.

“I used to run my old wooden trawler up Long Island Sound, from Greenport to Menemsha Harbor in Martha’s Vineyard every summer. Often, upon approaching the Menemsha Bight, the fog would roll in, making everything quiet and spooky, ‘til I heard that always welcome sound of bell buoy No. 1 at the mouth of the Bight,” Taylor said in his colorful Southern drawl. 

Taylor lets his imagination loose on “Twenty-Two Rivers,” a vocal tune featuring Jordan Trotter as the female protagonist on this unnerving straight-ahead jazz prowl. 

“In the grand old tradition of murder ballads, this tune is a story about a girl in New York City. Weary of being abused, she does away with her abuser, taking all his money and his vintage convertible, and makes her escape. It’s said that there are twenty-two major river systems across the continental U.S., and she must cross them all as she journeys west,” said Taylor who penned the song with Franzel.

“She’s The Moon” is an ode capturing the radiantly glowing spirit of Taylor’s wife, Stacey. Taylor played a McGill Resonator guitar, a rare instrument that was made for the late guitar great Chet Atkins.

“I was a member of Chet’s Saturday morning breakfast club in Nashville a few years before he passed, and the guitar came to me from its builder, Paul McGill. It is my single favorite and most cherished instrument,” said Taylor.

“Available Light” moves at a relaxing pace, written about a photographer friend who “is always seeking that magic, elusive available light.” Referencing the intro to Earth, Wind & Fire’s “Shining Star” is how Taylor opens the vibey “The Cooper and the Thief.” 

“A wine cooper is the fellow that makes the cask. A wine thief is the tool used to ‘steal’ wine from the barrel to test the wine throughout the winemaking process. This song is my unabashed attempt to curry favor with my favorite vintner: Cooper & Thief,” Taylor admitted with a sly smile.

Taylor’s instrumental storytelling tells the tale of seeing a bobcat in the wild from his boat on “The Cut.”

“Stacey and I were aboard the boat one evening heading home through the Ashepoo Coosaw Cutoff when we spied, up ahead, a rather large bobcat, casually swimming across the cut, stepping out on the other side and giving us a nonchalant stare as we passed. Cool,” shared Taylor.

Dedicated to his friend, Captain Baldwin, the album closes with “The Waterman,” a soulful, bluesy rhythmic cruise. Taylor explains, “There is a long tradition of shrimpers, oystermen and others who pull a living from the saltwater down here in the Lowcountry where I now live. They’re up before dawn and out on the salt all day.”

"Westside Chill” is Taylor’s first album since 2015’s “Sugardust in the Devil Wind” and his first contemporary jazz project since 2007’s “Accidental Sugar.” In the interim, he’s played, written, produced, recorded and performed in a variety of settings spanning rock, pop, blues, country, classical and Celtic music along with signing and developing artists for his Moonwatcher Music label.

Taylor debuted as a solo artist in 1988 with the ProJazz label release “Mystery Walk,” eventually signing with RCA/Victor to release “Spellbound” in 1995. His contemporary jazz recordings maintained a consistent presence on the Billboard charts. As a session player and producer, Taylor has collaborated with an eclectic list of artists – from Dave Koz and Donna Summer to Nile Rodgers, Al B. Sure! and Andrew Lloyd-Webber. Crafting music for television and film, his credits include “Stephen King's Golden Years,” Discovery Channel's “SpyTek” with Roger Moore, ABC Television's “Turning Point” and A&E's “Spies.”