Larry Taylor and the Soul Blues Healers

Do you have an older audience, or a younger group nostalgic for the blues, soul and R&B of the 1960s, 70s and 80s? Do you have a danceworthy crowd ready to funk out with James Brown songs? An international society that appreciates true American blues classics? Do you want the place to sound like a MIssissippi juke joint? Larry Taylor can do all of this. He's a sophisticated, 40 year career professional singer and bandleader who reads the room and chooses the right songs from his long repertoire to make folks tap their toes and smile. These are sophisticated musicians skilled at their instruments. The rhythm will be tight, the mood upbeat, the singing soulful. The Soul Blues Healers play anywhere from 1 to 3 hours, with set breaks every 45 minutes or so. He can also bring a female guest singer by request.

Larry “Bluesman” Taylor: BIO

Larry Taylor—West Side Chicago blues singer, bandleader, songwriter, producer, drummer was born in Chicago in 1955, oldest of the musical children of Mississippi singer Vera Taylor and guitarist Eddie “Playboy” Taylor Sr. He brings fans to the dance floor with a huge trove of songs in the blues tradition of his parents and the R&B and soul of his West Side neighborhood. Musical influences whose songs Larry sings include Howlin’ Wolf, Magic Sam, Elmore James, ZZ Hill, Little Milton, Johnnie Taylor, Tyrone Davis, and James Brown.

From the late 1970s, Larry drummed around the city, nationally and abroad with his father and other blues masters including Junior Wells, Little Milton, A.C. Reed, Otis Clay, Son Seals, and John Lee Hooker. Touring with his own band since 2004, he produced the CD, They Were in This House, praised by the Chicago Sun-Times as “one of the best blues albums of the year” and re-released by Wolf Records in 2011. In 2023, Nola-Blue Records released Larry Taylor and the Taylor Family’s CD Generations of Blues, featuring Larry’s Taylor brothers and sisters Brenda, Demetria, and Tim Taylor and the late Eddie Taylor Jr.

Larry was named one of 13 "Esteemed Artists" of 2020-21 by the Chicago Dept. of Culture and Special Events, and starred with his band, the Soul Blues Healers, in a series of free all-ages outdoor concerts in 2022-24, partnering with DCASE and local nonprofits in efforts to bring peace and positivity to his disinvested neighborhood. He and his family live on the West Side of Chicago, and he is one of the organizers of a new nonprofit to re-grow blues and soul music in the community, FOUR Blues Inc. NFP.

“People get into the rhythms of our music,” says Taylor. “I’m blessed to honor the blues ancestors and share my feelings in a way that brings people together.”

Larry Taylor and the Soul Blues Healers consist of Larry on vocals plus musicians on drums, bass guitar, electric guitar, keyboard and sometimes a horn. Bass and drums are in the back row with guitar, keyboard and horns closer to front. They need 3-4 microphones and 2-3 stands. (Larry likes a cordless or a long-cord one so he can roam the stage) The P.A. system needs and treble and bass and reverb adjustments. If possible, each musician should have a monitor; at the very least there should be two monitors in front for the singer to hear himself. The vocal sound in blues and soul should always stand out above the instrument sounds, and should not be overly loud. The stage should be lit so the audience can see all the musicians especially the lead singer.