Koko Taylor realized she had a talent for the blues when she was approached by producer/arranger Willie Dixon after a gig with Howlin' Wolf.
"He said, 'I never heard a woman sing the blues like you sing the blues,' " Taylor remembered. "He said, 'There are lots of men singing today but not enough women. That's what the world needs today — a woman with a voice like yours to sing the blues.' "
That was back in 1962, and today the award-winning Taylor is still singing the blues.
Taylor's first music was gospel. Growing up as a sharecropper's daughter, she and her siblings were instructed at the local church just outside Memphis, Tenn.
"My daddy made sure everybody in our household went to church every Sunday, whether we wanted to or not," Taylor said during a phone interview from her home in Chicago. "I learned how to sing gospel, but I really loved hearing the blues."
Born Cora Watson, Taylor's childhood love for chocolate earned her the nickname "Koko." She said that, as a child, she would listen to blues artists Bessie Smith, Muddy Waters, Sonny Boy Williamson and Big Mama Thornton.
"When I started singing the blues, I was just having fun," Taylor said. I had no idea I would end up where I am."
When she was 18, Taylor moved to Chicago with her husband, the late Robert "Pops" Taylor, and began frequenting blues clubs.
She sat in during sessions and eventually landed a job with Howlin' Wolf. That's where she met Willie Dixon and eventually signed with Chess Records, which made her famous with the 1965 hit "Wang Dang Doodle."
"I think about the good things that have happened to me all the time," Taylor said. "I performed for President George Bush, the older one, and for President Clinton. I also went on tour as a backup singer with Led Zeppelin in the '70s. That band is still the apple of my eye."
In 1975, Taylor signed with Alligator Records, the label she still calls home, and released "I Got What It Takes," which garnered her first Grammy nomination.
She has since received an additional five nominations and one Grammy Award, in 1994 for Blues Artist.
"I didn't think I was good enough to get a Grammy," Taylor said. "I always thought someone else would get it. The same thing with the W.C. Handy Awards. I thank God for those, too."
She said music is her life and she is planning on doing this until she can't do it anymore. "Singing the blues is like a marriage. You do it for better or for worse, and I'm going to continue to try to make people all over the world happy with my music."
Festival director Larry Jackstien, who is also the managing director of sales and marketing at Snowbird, helped Gordon Hanks and Michael McKay put together the Jazz at the Sheraton series in 1995.
"The Sheraton was the Hilton back then, and I was working in the marketing department," Jackstien said. "And we were wanting to make something happen, and we did."
Jackstien said the Snowbird Jazz and Blues Festival is one of those parties he's always looking forward to doing.
"This is the 15th annual festival," said the pianist, who has been with Snowbird for nearly seven years. "And it gets better each time. It will be a good show."
Big Snowbird weekend
Koko Taylor will headline the blues portion of the Snowbird Jazz and Blues Festival on Friday, July 26. The program will also include Walter Trout & the Radicals and Saffire: the Uppity Blues Women.
On Saturday, July 27, the festival will be devoted to jazz, headlined by Brazilian jazz legend Sergio Mendes. He will cap the evening's lineup. The night will also feature Cedar Walton, who was John Coltrane's first pianist, who will perform with saxophonist James W. "Red" Holloway and vocalist Micki Rhyne. The Larry Jackstien Trio — featuring pianist Jackstien, drummer Jay Lawrence and bassist Matt Larson — will also perform that evening.
Friday's show will begin at 7 p.m.; Saturday's concert will begin at 5:30 p.m.
Individual tickets for each evening of the festival are $45 for priority seating, $30 for general admission and $12 for children ages 12 and younger. They can be purchased at the door or by calling 1-800-933-2200.
Snowbird is also offering package tickets to include a concert, breakfast, a tram ride and lodging. For reservations call 1-800-453-3000.
E-MAIL: scott@desnews.com