Curtis Taylor: Taylor Made
Curtis Taylor

Had Curtis Taylor got his way, things might have turned out differently. As a young boy, his dream of playing saxophone was quashed when money issues forced his mother to advocate for trumpet. The lower cost of that instrument proved pivotal in determining the path the Ohio native subsequently followed and the eventual crafting of his debut album. Other developments also contributed, including a school band director who exposed him to jazz, university music degrees, and a stint recording with Gregory Porter plus gigs with Cyrus Chestnut, Billy Childs, and others. Currently a lecturer in the University of Iowa's Jazz department, Taylor now follows two EPs as a leader with the full-length Taylor Made.

Sporting seven Taylor originals, the release, laid down at Ann Arbor's Big Sky Studios in July 2022, demonstrates his talents as a player, writer, and bandleader, the smartly crafted compositions exuding a post-hard bop vibe and his cohorts—tenor saxist Marcus Elliot, keyboardist Theron Brown, bassist Jonathon Muir-Cotton, and drummer Alex White—as well-suited to the idiom as the trumpeter. He's been refining his sound since those teenage years and today extemporizes with authority and exploits the full expressive range his instrument affords. The music's jazz full-stop, but other colours seep into his playing too, be it gospel, blues, or soul.

Named in tribute to his young son, “Kham's Dilemma” provides a clear taste of what the recording offers: high-level group interplay, thoughtful individual expression, and writing steeped in the classic jazz tradition. Here and elsewhere, Taylor and Elliot are an effective front-line, whether executing unison lines or trading solos. The others show themselves to be ever-responsive to the music's flow, with Brown comping supportively and soloing when the opportunity arises and Muir-Cotton and White imaginative and swinging. The title might be reminiscent of Coltrane, but “After the Rain” is Taylor's tune, the trumpeter clarifying that it came to him while at the piano during a visit to his mother's house. A radiant piece that weds smooth lyricism and an inviting Caribbean feel, “After the Rain” shows Taylor's as comfortable veering into pop territory as something harder-edged; it's also proves a fine showcase for his soloing chops.

Countering its laid-back character is the furiously hard-burning “Heightened Awareness,” which sees the horn players delivering blistering solos and the others doing everything they can to maintain the torrid pace. Taylor's penchant for prettiness emerges a second time on “For Her,” which, inspired by a relationship he had with a dancer, represents his attempt to distill her graceful movements into a lustrous ballad. Such material brings the trumpeter's florid side to the fore (Brown's too) and not in a bad way. Elliot shines on the subsequent “Indomitable” when the dramatic piece grants him a superb vehicle for his smoky tenor. A slightly funkier feel surfaces during “Hashtagged,” the sultry tune apparently inspired by the Robert Glasper composition “Jelly's Da Beener,” after which Taylor caps the set with the breezy dynamism of “Journey.”

Of course like any artist he's indebted to his forebears, and to that end echoes of colleagues, past and present, are sometimes discernible in his playing. That said, he's clearly dedicated to forging his own elegant voice on the date instead of merely replicating what others have done before him. He's helped greatly in that regard by his partners, whose sensitive contributions enhance the strong impression this solid album makes.

May 2024