Chicago Blues: Melvin Shows Off His Handiwork

(Continued from Chicago Blues: Jambalaya and the Lady in Red)

Featured Photo: “Melvin Taylor, Live at Legends”  Chicago, Illinois—2025

The house lights were still burning bright after the opening act had finished. Around 7:30, Melvin Taylor’s band and crew claimed the stage and began setting up their instruments, microphones, and amplifiers so the main show could start. My friend and I, with our great view from the back bar, felt the growing excitement in the club.

A couple of minutes before they started playing, Melvin Taylor himself came out for a mic check, all decked out in gray, with a nice sports jacket and a flat cap.

Just after 8:00, the lights were turned down, and the volume was cranked up several notches. I didn’t see him do it, but my friend told me later that he’d torn two squares from a clean dinner napkin, wadded them up, and stuffed the dry paper into his ears to dampen the noise. He’d forgotten to bring earplugs, which he normally used for concerts. Unfortunately, I too had forgotten earplugs and didn’t think to use anything else to safeguard my hearing.

The emcee came on stage and asked, “Are you ready for some Blues?” Met by underwhelming applause, he gave it another try at higher volume. This time, the crowd’s response was more enthusiastic, so he continued, “Make some noise for the one and only Melvin Taylor!” Melvin took his place at the front of the stage with his electric guitar strapped over his shoulder.

Then he and his band—keyboard, bass, drums—launched into a fantastic set of Blues. They played some fast songs I didn’t know that still made my head bounce in time with the beat. And they covered some slow standards in minor keys like “The Thrill is Gone”, made famous by none other than B.B. King.

They entertained us for well over an hour, and Melvin proved himself to be both an accomplished musician and a master showman. I took a couple of still pictures, including today’s Featured Photo, but they don’t begin to capture what we witnessed.

It’s hard to describe his musical performance; the music itself is the story. The best I can do is try to relate a few of the details that struck me as I sat there with my friend in this hot club on a cold night in Chicago, bopping to the Blues. The tunes he’d chosen for his show really let Melvin Taylor show off his amazing talent; my friend and I watched his skill with near disbelief. Twice, I asked if he’d ever seen or heard anything like it. Both times, he said no.

With his left-hand, Melvin would finger the neck of the guitar with blazing speed. He moved from fingering the strings as normally done, with his palm up and his hand cupped underneath the neck of the guitar, then faster than the eye could see, he flipped his left hand over, so the palm was facing down and his fingers reaching from above the neck, while he continued to play the notes on the strings. Impossibly fast, he then switched his left hand back to the normal playing position. It was all we could do to even see this back-and-forth flash as he played. In a still photo, it looked like this.

Even my iPhone video had trouble tracking the speed of his hand, but just to give you a sense, you can check out 9 seconds of the video I took during his performance. (Click below. 👇)

In another song, he showed off what he could do with his right hand. He was strumming the strings—I think he had a pick in his hand as usual—then he started this windmill motion circling over and over and over again, playing like a tornado, or maybe the Eveready Bunny, going on for half a minute or so. Again, we could barely keep up with the speed of his hand. A still photo…

…and another 9 seconds of video for you to view. (Click below and look at the intensity on his face! 👇)

Melvin Taylor really had the crowd going; my friend and I were in awe. We turned toward the collection of Blues fans standing directly behind us at the back bar until our eyes locked with those of the young guy we’d spoken to before the show. Smiling at him, we nodded our heads. This time, we silently conceded, “Hey, you were right. He is absolutely worth seeing on his own!”

When his last song was over, he received a thunderous ovation. Melvin took a bow and yelled, “Thank you! Goodnight!” He did not play an encore. It was now time for Buddy Guy’s show and the audience was ready. The house lights were turned back up and Omar the bartender asked if we would like one more. My friend and I ordered our third and final beer for the night—another local brew—Revolution Anti-Hero, billed as the best-selling IPA in Illinois, with a cool logo to boot!

We drank while the crew worked and half an hour later, the stage was set for the headliner. Incredible though it may seem, part of the prep was to crank the volume all the way up to 11. (The ringing in my ears from the eardrum-pounding sound would last well into the next morning.) Just before 10:00 the house lights went down again, the applause ramped up again, and the emcee returned to the stage again. And I captured his introduction for Buddy Guy in a video, so I can tell you exactly what he said.

(To be continued…)