The James Taylor Quartet - Hammond-ology (2Cds) - by siete.zip

The James Taylor Quartet are a British four-piece jazz funk band who have become renowned for their live performances. They were formed by Hammond organ player James Taylor following the break-up of his former band The Prisoners in the wake of Stiff Records' bankruptcy. The current line-up is James Taylor (Hammond organ), Chris Montague (guitar), Andrew McKinney (bass) and Adam Betts (drums), although recordings and live performances usually feature a horn section comprising John Willmott (tenor sax/flute) and Nick Smart (trumpet), and also vocalist Yvonne Yanney.
The James Taylor Quartet's first single, "Blow-Up" (a funked up version of Herbie Hancock's main theme from the seminal 60s film of the same name), was released in 1985 on the Re Elect The President label, which would later become the Acid Jazz label. The track was championed by the NME and John Peel, appearing in Peel's Festive Fifty chart for 1987. The band's debut album, Mission Impossible was released the following year and predominantly consisted of covers of Sixties film themes such as "Alfie", "Mrs. Robinson" and "Goldfinger" in a rough, up-tempo, almost punk-like style that was primarily focussed on Taylor's Hammond organ playing. Their second album, The Money Spyder, was the soundtrack to an imaginary spy film, applying the band's distinctive style to Taylor's own compositions.
Whilst promoting these albums The James Taylor Quartet developed a strong reputation as a live band that remains to this day. The live set focuses on accessible rhythm driven music that some classify as having elements of modern dance music, despite including a lot of improvised solos. During this period a contract with a major record led to them playing to ever increasing audiences. The band also recorded their signature tune "The Theme from Starsky and Hutch" during this period. This led to the release of the live album Absolute in 1991, which attempted to capture the experience of the band in concert (even though it was recorded 'live' in the studio, the audience cheering being overdubbed later)