“It was this past Saturday…the Los Angeles Black Music Awards,” said Jazz/R&B/Latin-Soul singer/songwriter Elisa Gomez Taylor at the time of our interview when I asked about the event that honored her with the People’s Choice Award.
“My husband was there…I want to thank Linder…Rosco…KeJohnna…Dr. Rick Warren, president of the Black Music Association of America. He has the American Black Music Awards in Atlanta, Detroit, Chicago and Las Vegas, and the Latin Music Awards.”
Elisa is a singer who is always on the stage performing at different functions. She is so versatile and professional as a performer that she has perfected multi genres – Latin Jazz, R&B, Soul, and Pop. A board member of the International Society of Black Latinos. Taylor has released three albums – “Maui Dream,” “Lava Man,” and “It’s About Time” featuring Willie Groove – and has performed in shows alongside Anthony Hamilton, David Banner, Juvenile and 702.
You will find her often performing with her Latin/Jazz E-Star band where the very popular percussionist Willie Groove is often seen. Elisa Gomez Taylor can be found performing on Thursdays in Pasadena with the Latin band Flamingo Soul.
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“It’s a Jazz band I’ve been performing with for two years. We do R&B, Old School, and Jazz,” she added.
I asked what the reason was given for her Black Music Associations’ People’s Choice Award honor, and she said, “For the things I do in the community performing, collaborations with different artists…always having a great crowd.”
She continued, “I have a mentoring program; it has a six-week curriculum. They get homework, graduate, and get a certificate.”
Taylor had a four-year residency at the Five Star Grand Wailea Hotel Resort & Spa in Maui Hawaii. Always compared to Lena Horn, Elisa Gomez Taylor was once asked to play the role of the legendary performer at the time of my last interview with her. The interview was just before one of her live shows in Los Angeles, and she told me it still has not happened yet.
“I did audition for a play by Mickey Stevenson, a Motown songwriter…and got the part,” she told me.
The veteran performer recently opened the Miss Black California USA Pageant with a performance of her newest single “Galaxika, Roots from Africa.” At the Los Angeles Black Music Awards Elisa sang two selections. This People’s Choice Award from the Los Angeles Black Music Awards is not her first honor, she garnered the Music Living Legend Award from the JazzZone JazZabrations this year. Taylor constantly travels the world performing and can perform also in Spanish and Portuguese.
“I was shocked,” Elisa said about her reaction to the announcement that she was being honored with the Los Angeles Black Music Honors’ People’s Choice Award. “I’ve been doing this for 30 years.”
Elisa often performs at The Beverly Hills Hotel Concert Series, the House of Blues in West Hollywood, The Monsoons Cage – to name a few. Her shows have taken her to Paris, Dominican Republic and Mexico. www.ElisaGomezTaylor.com www.LasVegasBlackMusicAwards.com
Dr. Eunice Moseley has an estimated weekly readership of over one million with The Pulse of Entertainment (www.ThePulseofEntertainment.com). Also, the “Uplifting Minds II” Entertainment Conference (ULMII), founded by Eunice in 1999, is into its 24th year. The next conference takes place via Zoom on Saturday, November 11. Visit www.UpliftingMinds2.com, a 501 c3 organization, for more information or to RSVP for Zoom Access, email [email protected].