Now in her 90s, Kansas City jazz singer Myra Taylor has had a life of ups and downs in the music industry

The hard feelings and frustration that came with the release of "Spider and the Fly" put Taylor's American recording career on hold. She began to play abroad, and in 1965 she moved to Frankfurt, Germany. Europe was a hot spot for American musicians in the '60s, and Taylor even opened her own club, Down by the Riverside. Her live act found success across Europe.

Taylor moved back to the States in 1977, settling in Los Angeles to work in television and film and sing at charity events. In 1994, she returned home to KC.

She returned to the studio in 2000 and recorded My Night to Dream, a full-length that featured many of her early songs: "Take It Easy Greasy," "Still Blue Water" and, of course, "Spider and the Fly." In addition, four Taylor rereleases put out by Universal Records have done fairly well.

Best of all, though, she finally owns her own songs.

"We fought in court for the copyrights to her songs, and we won them in 2006," Gilley says. He explains that, according to federal law, Taylor can't sue and receive money for any of her songs copyrighted before 1982. But he's working this year to win the publishing rights to all her songs. "Meanwhile," Gilley says, "she's living off of Social Security and small jobs. It shouldn't be that way."

Taylor still performs solo and at charity events, but mostly she gigs with the Wild Women of Kansas City. And she's got a big one coming up: Her 91st birthday celebration is at Knuckleheads on February 24.

"On my 90th birthday, I celebrated for 12 hours, from 2 p.m. to 2 a.m.," she says, laughing. "I really hung in there. And I betcha I will this year, too."