Louis Van Taylor has performed with Ray Charles, The Gap Band, Michael Bolton, Stevie Wonder Sheila E., Billy Vera and many more, but he is best known for performing with Kool and the Gang.
Louis was born in Salt Lake City Utah and later moved to Los Angeles CA, where he attended Foshay Jr. High, then later moved to Pasadena and was a graduate of Pasadena High School.
Louis has always been one of the top horn live and session players in the business along with leading his own formidable “Louis Taylor Quartet: Hornlicious” featuring Louis Van Taylor and Bijon Watson, Louis Van Taylor Quintet.
You can see all of his work and credits here:
Recording for: Mariah Carey, Kool and the Gang, Tremaine Hawkins, The Temptations, Mary J. Blige, Eric Benet, Amanda Marshall, Maxine Weldon, Gerald Wilson, Carl Anderson, Norman Conners, Stix Hooper, Wayne Henderson, Big Mountain, UnWrapped Vols 1-3 5, Kevin Toney, Jeff Golub, Ray Charles, Charles Wright and the Watts 103rd St. Band, Ike Turner, The Cheathams, Teena Marie, Smokey Robinson
Performances with: Cameo, Kool and the Gang, Bernard Ighner, Carl Thomas, Freida Payne, The Temptations, The Four Tops, Patrice Rushen, Johnny Otis, Jimmy Witherspoon, Jimmy Smith, Marc Antoine, Micheal Bolton, Billy Vera Big Band, Norman Conners,Teena Marie, The Gap Band, Frank Sinatra Jr., Dave Stewart, Ray Charles, The Cheathams, Les McCann, Kool and the Gang,Charles Wright and the Watts 103rd St. Band, Carl Anderson, Oba Babatunde, Della Reese,
Movie/TV credits: Soul Men, Hurricane, Touch by an Angel, What’s Love Got to Do With It, Man in the Moon, Nutty Professor, The Charle Parker Story, Life, Murder She Wrote, Night Court, Seinfeld, Friday, The Temptation Story, Star Trek Next Generation, Lemonade/Beyonce
Commercial credits: the Gap, American Express, Honda Ridgeline, Wild Turkey 2016, Microsoft A-I Common/Carlsberg
Educational activities: USC School of Music Jazz Studies Adjunct Lecturer 1987-1996
Theater of the Heart Youth First jazz artist in-residence Centennial High School 2015-2018
In this episode, we talked about:
- His tips for traveling with your horn
- Improvisation advice and how he taught his students at USC
- Differences between creating solos for various genres
- and more
Louis is endorsed by D’Addario and Trevor James Saxophones.
You can find Louis on FaceBook HERE.
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