AVANT-FUNK MASTERMIND NEW MEMPHIS COLORWAYS DAZZLING NEW ALBUM ‘IT IS WHAT IT ISN’T’ is OUT!

 GRAMMY/EMMY-NOMINATED MULTI-INSTRUMENTALIST FUSES SOUL, JAZZ, AFROBEAT, ELECTRONIC MUSIC AND MORE ON VIRTUOSIC COLLECTION

 Here’s what we’re reading about ‘It Is What It Isn’t’:

“Effective. It manages to evoke fusion giants like Return to Forever, Weather Report and Herbie Hancock and doesn’t have to strain much to get there… His reference points here include funk, Afrobeat, jazz, blues, fusion, soul and electronic music, a blend that feels both vintage and futuristic.” - DownBeat

“Solid slice of futuristic funk [and] absorptive, pure-form psychedelia [with] a fair number of nods-of-the-head to the funky music scene in his native Memphis.” -Atwood

“This record’s about to become your summer jam… Will have you struttin along to the g-funk, head nodding to the modern funk jazz, and shivering/quivering at the icy melancholy and loved up soulful moments included on the record.” -Backseat Mafia

“A joyously adventurous listen, playfully mixing old school funk, Afrobeat, jazz, blues, fusion, soul, and electronic music into a dazzling blend that manages to feel both vintage and futuristic all at once.” -It’s Psychedelic Baby

“The new record finds him blending genres and styles old and new – from jazz to old school funk to fusion to electronic music and beyond.” -Jazziz

“Imagining some of Herbie Hancock’s finest work from the late 70s or 80s, from Man-Child to Future Shock, will put you in the ballpark. It’s not that none of the players (all Taylor, in this case) show restraint; an effective groove requires that sense of space. It’s rather that the direction of the melodies, instrumentation, and breakdowns could surprise you with any new development at any time... First-rate funk [and] fusion work of the highest order… Having set the inventiveness bar so high from the top, what follows is essentially more funky unpredictability and more expressive synth and guitar playing. ” -Memphis Flyer

“Dynamism… dexterity and depth of feeling … It Is What It Isn't constitutes a stern lesson in self-discipline leavened with the utter joy of creation.” -All About Jazz

“A retro-futuristic take on funk, soul, jazz and electronica [in] a mostly instrumental album that features Taylor playing every single note himself on guitar, bass, drums, synth and more. While this is an impressive feat, it never feels like a vanity project intended to showcase his virtuosic skills, but rather a heartfelt collection of songs that could easily have come from a tight-knit group of musicians.” - Daily Memphian

Fresh off the success of his critically acclaimed 2020 release, ‘The Music Stands.’, Memphis multi-instrumental wizard Paul Taylor is set to return this spring with ‘It Is What It Isn’t,’ his third album as New Memphis Colorways. Due out May 21st, the record is a joyously adventurous listen, playfully mixing old school funk, Afrobeat, jazz, blues, fusion, soul, and electronic music into a dazzling blend that manages to feel both vintage and futuristic all at once. Taylor performs every single note on this mostly-instrumental album himself, moving between guitar, bass, synth, omnichord, percussion, and drums with a preternatural ease, but the results suggest the work of an airtight group of virtuosos rather than a one-man band, with impossibly slick grooves and dizzyingly off-kilter jams that hint at everything from Return to Forever and Weather Report to Snarky Puppy and Vulfpeck. 

Working out of his home studio in Memphis, Taylor recorded ‘It Is What It Isn’t’ during the summer of 2020, tracking through the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and in the midst of the waves of civil and racial unrest unfolding across the country. Listen closely and you’ll hear nods to Herbie Hancock, Spanky Alford, and James Brown in his daring, ecstatic performances, which balance deep reverence and gleeful discovery in equal measure. “This whole record is a love letter to Black American Music,” says Taylor, “without which there would be no American music.”

 A second generation artist who grew up in a house full of instruments and recording gear, Taylor honed his craft from an early age thanks to the influence of his father, noted Memphis legend Pat Taylor, and stepfather, Richard Orange, whose ’70s band Zuider Zee has achieved a fervent cult status. As an early teen, Taylor began gigging with local blues and jazz masters on Beale Street while simultaneously performing in punk and indie rock bands in Midtown, and by high school, he was collaborating with Luther and Cody Dickinson in an early incarnation of the North Mississippi Allstars and studying under the tutelage of the pair’s father, Jim Dickinson, who produced records for everyone from The Replacements and Big Star to Ry Cooder, Toots Hibbert and Phineas Newborn Jr.

 Hailed as “Memphis’ favorite multi-instrumentalist” by the Memphis Flyer, Taylor has since spent much of his career touring and recording on bass, guitar, and drums with an astonishing array of artists including Eric Gales, Shawn Lane, Ann Peebles, Kirk Whalum, Amy LaVere, Chuck Prophet, Robert Ellis, and Jimbo Mathus, among others. In 2010, Taylor earned a GRAMMY nomination for his work on Luther Dickinson’s ‘Onward And Upward’ album, and in 2012, he received an EMMY nomination for his score to Alan Spearman’s short film ‘April.’

For more information, please contact Nick Loss-Eaton at nick.losseaton@gmail.com or 718.541.1130.