Ellington

Who do you get when you mix India Arie's soulful voice with Johnnie Taylor's blues style? You get Tasha Taylor, Johnnie Taylor's youngest daughter who is carrying on the family's tradition of musical excellence. She has three brothers, Johnnie Taylor Jr., Floyd Taylor and T.J. Hooker-Taylor, who have also had success as recording artists. Tasha Taylor credits her father for motivating her to go into the music business. She has even retained the same up-tempo bluesy style of performing.

When she and her siblings were younger, their mother kept them performing in commercials and other small things. Today Taylor is an established actress. She has had numerous smaller appearances on television shows such as "7th Heaven," "Living Single" and "House, MD." She has also been in movies and will be starring in the Broadway musical "Unchain My Heart" this fall.

Taylor's second album, "TaylorMade," is aptly titled. Not only does Taylor perform vocals on it, but she produced and arranged it as well. From the outside, the album looks simply produced. The cover art is a beautiful photo of Taylor smiling with stars around her and in the background. While it might be something that I could make on Photoshop, the rest of "TaylorMade" is not.

The album opens with a tribute to her father, giving his song "Who's Making Love" a new twist with her soulful female voice. Taylor takes the song and gives it more of a feminist meaning. Hearing her sing "Who's making love to your old lady while you were out making love" creates a warning to all cheating men and a call to action for women who've been cheated on.

Instead of spicing up the track with more modern R&B beats, Taylor lets the song retain many attributes of the 1968 version, such as the signature horn section. "Who's Making Love" sets the tone for the remainder of the album, which is heavy in vocals and brass instruments.

The second song on the album, "Somebody," is much more laid-back and soulful. Her alternating speed while singing is reminiscent of Tracy Chapman. Taylor's voice, however, is still more feminine. The album's single, "Queen," is similar in tone but lacks the brass section that most of the other songs have, relying mostly on vocals and guitar to carry the melody. She sings: "Don't be nervous, don't be scared. I'll be the one standing right beside you to give you tender loving and care, baby." While taking care of her beau, she also declares herself to be his queen.

"I've Got Love" might be the happiest track on the album. She repeats, "I've got music, I've got hope, I've got love" several times for the chorus and at the end of the song. The horns mimic her singing. The background vocals are the same as on most of the other songs. They add another layer to the song, but keep the album as a whole slightly stagnant.

Most of the songs on "Taylor Made" seem to have emotional counterparts. "Wonder Woman" has the same upbeat feel as "I've Got Love" but with a darker tone to the lyrics. "Sometimes I'm strong. Sometimes I'm weak. Sometimes the truth is too hard to speak," she sings. In the chorus, she sings, "If I was Wonder Woman there would be no need to carry that gun."

Instead of letting the entire album focus on relationship woes (as many artists tend to do these days), Taylor writes about her feelings as an individual. "Wonder Woman," for example, is really about not wanting to be scared of life.

The rest of the songs are somewhere between the softer and more dance-ready grooves. The album as a whole is strong. Taylor proves from the very beginning that she has just as much talent, if not more than most headliners. "Taylor Made" does, however, have some weak points such as "Badman," which is repetitive. On the following track, "Refund," Taylor does not sing as strongly as she did on the previous song, but by the time this track comes along, I'm already tired of listening. With 13 songs that are all more than four minutes long, it becomes hard to keep the listener interested. These few mishaps shouldn't deter any potential listeners, though. If you like strong-voiced women who stray from today's mainstream R&B style, then Tasha Taylor is definitely worth listening to. If she were playing live, surely no one would stay seated.

"Taylor Made" is available on iTunes, Amazon and CD Baby. Her single, "Queen," is also available for downloading. Visit http://www.tashataylor.com or http://www.facebook.com/tashataylormusic for more about the artist.

Tasha Taylor's "Taylor Made" is her second album.
Courtesy Tasha Taylor