Vortex Album Review

Katriona Taylor

Precious Time ? Released on DivaDoll Records, Distributed by Cadiz Music

Having made two previous albums, opened for George Benson and the James Taylor Quartet, and gigged at such places as the Pizza Express and the Bull?s Head, Katriona Taylor is an experienced singer capable of injecting fresh life into both soul/funk and jazz classics, but on this album she concentrates exclusively on her own material.

Brought up in South London and Portugal (her father is Roger Taylor, the last British tennis player before Tim Henman to reach a Wimbledon semi-final), she is as familiar with Brazilian sounds and rhythms as with the soulful light funk in which she specialises, so her songs draw on both traditions, her debt to singers such as Randy Crawford and Minnie Riperton most easily discernible in her clear, flexible, sensuous voice, but her Brazilian interests leavening the mix slightly, bringing a fresh brightness and ease to her delivery that sits well with her jazz-based but versatile backing band: pianist John Crawford, bassist Davide Mantovani, guitarist Guillermo Hill and drummer Chris Nickolls.

With a studio set (comprised mainly of immediately accessible love songs winsomely delivered) supplemented by a bonus live track, ?Precious Time?, recorded at the Pizza Express in January 2008, this is an attractive, lively album that will please Taylor?s admirers.

Chris Parker, CD Reviewer, October 2008

http://www.vortexjazz.co.uk/cd-reviews/precious-time.html

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