In this two-part special of The Cause: Conversations on Music, History, and Democracy, Dr. Reiland Rabaka sits down with renowned blues musician Otis Taylor for an intimate and dynamic conversation.

Colorado bluesman Otis Taylor, a Chicago native, remembers being at the Rolling Stones’ legendary Hyde Park concert in London back in 1969, but it wasn’t the music he found particularly interesting.

In 1966, a couple months before he was set to graduate, Otis Taylor was told he needed to cut his short afro or he'd be kicked out. Now, 57 years after he left, he has received a diploma. It's ...

Wynton Marsalis says it all: “Everything comes out in blues music: joy, pain, struggle. Blues is affirmation with absolute elegance.” The Glenwood Springs Center for the Arts is proud to present blues ...

A deeper view that unites instead of divides, connecting why the story matters to you. We want to bridge divides to reach everyone. This article appeared in the May 22, 2023 edition of the Monitor ...

Most musicians have the luxury of carefully preparing before heading into the recording studio. Because of critical health issues, blues musician Otis Taylor raced to record as much of his latest ...

DENVER, Colo. - The year was 1966 – decades before laws were enforced banning racial hair discrimination – when musician Otis Taylor was expelled from a Denver high school because of the length of his ...

Acclaimed blues musician Otis Taylor finally got his high school diploma last month, 57 years after he should have received it. Back in 1966, the administration at Denver’s Manual High School told ...

In Part 2 of our conversation with legendary blues musician Otis Taylor, we dive deeper into his artistic journey, his distinctive trance blues style, and the historical and cultural significance of ...