After the 1986 dissolution of the Medway Valley psychedelic-mod band the Prisoners, organist James Taylor resolved to pursue jazz rather than rock. He assembled a four-piece from Kent, England, that included ex-Prisoner Alan Crockford on bass plus Simon Howard on drums and David Taylor on guitar, both formerly of the Daggermen. The lineup cut a BBC session for John Peel, after which Taylor withdrew to Sweden for a respite. The broadcast nonetheless generated sufficient interest for the group to land a contract with the fledgling mod imprint Re-Elect the President. Their mini-album of covers, Mission Impossible, spotlighted 1960s soundtrack instrumentals centered on organ grooves, among them the single “Blow Up,” and drew its chief inspiration from Jimmy Smith and Booker T. & the MG’s. The Money Spyder extended the concept; whereas the Damned had lampooned psychedelic soundtracks as Naz Nomad & the Nightmares, the JTQ paid homage to the beat and jazz period. Dissatisfied with the band’s constraints, Taylor found only his brother still present when Wait a Minute surfaced on Polydor Records’ dance offshoot Urban in September 1988. Fresh jazz players and ex-James Brown horn section members were brought in for a forceful reading of “The Theme from Starsky and Hutch,” placing the JTQ at the center of London’s nascent acid jazz movement. Howard and Crockford, for their part, supplied the rhythm section for ex-Prisoners guitarist Graham Day’s project the Prime Movers. The JTQ next added two rappers to May 1989’s “Breakout.” Though the single pointed toward dance charts, Do Your Own Thing merged both styles while sustaining a link to the jazz/dance and rare groove synthesis, notably through its vigorous cover of the 1970s club staple “Got to Get Your Own.” The long-awaited live set Absolute appeared in 1991 on Polydor subsidiary Big Life. Former Style Council and Jazz Renegades drummer Steve White spent time in the JTQ, and Taylor himself contributed guest performances to the Wonder Stuff, the Pogues, and U2. More enduring members have included Gary Crockett on bass, Neil Robinson on drums, Dominic Glover on trumpet, and John Wilmott on saxophone and flute. Featuring new lead singer Noel McKoy, the 1993 singles “Love the Life” and “See a Brighter Day” targeted chart success, yet once the acid house phenomenon subsided Taylor could concentrate on his music without chasing trends. Later JTQ output, issued on labels including Acid Jazz Records, JSP, and Gut, returned to the Hammond groove-jazz idiom of Jimmy McGriff and Jimmy Smith. Taylor’s composition “Austin’s Theme” was used in the 1997 hit film Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery.
