Review: Taylor Iman Jones Goes All Original In 54 Below Solo Show Debut

It's always fun to get to know a new artist. Except that Taylor Iman Jones isn't a new artist. The singing actress has been seen on Broadway, Off-Broadway, in National tours of Broadway shows, in regional productions of Broadway-bound shows, and on the cabaret and concert stages of Manhattan in many group shows. Taylor Iman Jones is a name that people have been getting to know, Taylor Iman Jones is a talent that people have been getting to know, and they have been doing this for some time now.

So who is the new artist that 54 Below audiences got to know on March 6th and 7th?

The new artist is Taylor Iman Jones the songwriter - to be specific, Taylor Iman Jones the singer-songwriter, who had her New York City solo show debut, and while many artists take that scary first step out onto the cabaret and concert stage, to take that step with a program made up (almost) entirely of songs one has composed, well, that's impressive.

Taylor Iman Jones impresses.

During her eponymous show, Taylor Iman Jones told her audience, "You can do anything and you should try to do everything." The budding rock and roll artist is not wrong about the do anything part - for her program, Taylor sang, she played, she hosted, and since she wrote almost every song that was played, she took a few minutes out to explain the process by which many of the compositions were created. In fact, all of this creation can (pretty much) be traced back to one goal: "I wrote them to help me heal." Taylor declared early in the evening that a lot of them were about heartbreak of some sort. Now, at first blush, that might sound like an evening of depressing songs written by someone in distress... but nothing could be further from the truth. Jones has created a collection of bona fide rock and roll songs that are easy to listen to, great to groove to, and all of them ready for the recording studio and radio. Yes, there are some serious topics, the most prominent being the murder of Breonna Taylor, which inspired the extraordinary "Sunlight's Soul (Shots Fired)" - a song that everyone should hear, everyone should know, and everyone should sing. If Taylor Iman Jones were to record her first solo album, one comprised of the songs from her concert, this writer should like to see "Sunlight's Soul (Shot's Fired)" be the first single released. It will set the tone for her work as a songwriter and it will set the bar for her life as a recording artist... and artist is the right word to be used when discussing this side of Taylor Iman Jones.

To be an actor is a wonderful thing. To be a singing actor is a difficult thing (anyone who has seen a truly gifted musical theater actor segue from speaking to singing understands this). But to the artist standing front and center, to be the voice from which the material originates, to be the band leader, tasked with bringing the musicians to the audience - this is all weighty, heady duties, particularly when a person also has to be entertaining, captivating, and alluring. BOOM. Taylor Iman Jones has it.

With an abundance of goodwill and an outpouring of love, a gorgeous and palatable singing voice, an enjoyable personality, and a smile big enough to light up The Broadway, Taylor Iman Jones is poised for rock stardom. The melodies of her songs are memorable (opening number "Out Loud" was wisely chosen to start the night), the lyrics observe proper storytelling and songwriting structures, yet can be deceptively accessible, jockeying back and forth between simple and sophisticated ("Four Letter Word" is particularly clever), and even though Jones's collection of songs is designed for a band and back up singers, for dancing and feeling, Taylor presented one number that would indicate that there is a musical theater writer lurking in there. A marvelous composition titled "Tsunami" was written for a zoom reading but also so that Taylor could see if "I could write songs outside of myself." Proposition proven. It might behoove Ms. Jones to pursue both lanes of songwriting, for she clearly has the skills.

Backed onstage by a gifted band made up of Skyler Volpe on bass, Lee Daniele Moretti on guitar, Jesse-Ray Leich on drums, and Musical Director Elijah Caldwell on piano, Taylor scored high marks with back-to-back performances of the hypnotic and mellifluous "Flowers" and the driving and ironic "Turns Out" but not all of the highlights came from Taylor, the band, and her original works. Two of the evening's performances were of famous songs, presented in a manner that would highlight the uber-talented backup vocalists Isaiah Tyrell Boyd and Keirsten Hodgens, who showed their skills and playful sides while rocking out with Taylor on a fascinatingly arranged "Toxic" and a traditional presentation of "Holding Out For a Hero." Jones and co. were very generous with their lucky audience (who, by the way, was with her every step of the way, throwing themselves into the March 7th performance in a way that every live performer dreams of) and it would not be a far stretch of the imagination to see Taylor and co. back on the 54 Below stage (or any small venue stage, especially a rock and roll venue) soon. Taylor did mention that this was her birthday concert, but why wait for a birthday to give this kind of a gift to one's fans and followers? This music is a gift worth giving every day.

At the start of her show, Taylor Iman Jones said that she had "some original stuff" for the audience. Obviously, Taylor was referring to the fact that songs were original but the next time Taylor Iman Jones references the presentation of something original, she should also be speaking of herself.

The Taylor Iman Jones show features a producing credit for Shannon Molly Flynn and a directing credit for Henry Gottfried, both of whose contribution to the evening was visible and palpable.

Find great shows to see on the 54 Below website HERE.

Visit the Taylor Iman Jones website HERE.

Photos by Stephen Mosher; Visit the Stephen Mosher website HERE.

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