City Park Jazz: Otis Taylor

With Otis Taylor, it’s best to expect the unexpected. While his music, an amalgamation of roots styles in their rawest form, discusses heavyweight issues like murder, homelessness, tyranny, and injustice, his personal style is lighthearted. “I’m good at dark, but I’m not a particularly unhappy person,” he says. “I’d just like to make enough money to buy a Porsche.”

Whether it’s his unique instrumentation (he fancies banjo and cello), or it’s the sudden sound of a female vocal, or a seemingly upbeat optimistic song takes a turn for the forlorn, what remains consistent is poignant storytelling based in truth and history. On his sixth CD, Double V, Taylor unleashes intimate tales as he produces an aural excursion inspired by an unconventional childhood.

All City Park Jazz concerts are FREE and take place rain or shine at the bandstand by the pavilion on Ferril Lake

Free parking is available throughout the park—please be a good neighbor and avoid parking on side-streets around the park. Or better yet, ride your bike and enjoy free bike parking monitored by City Park Jazz volunteers at the Bike Corral in the Pavilion from 5:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

More info: http://cityparkjazz.org