Taylor Eigsti

Last updated
Taylor Eigsti
Tayloreigsti3.jpg
Background information
Born (1984-09-24) September 24, 1984 (age 39)
Menlo Park, California,
GenresJazz
Occupation(s)Musician
Instrument(s)Piano
Years active1993–present
Labels Concord, GSI
Website tayloreigsti.com

Taylor Eigsti (born September 24, 1984) is an American jazz pianist and composer. Eigsti's trio features bassist Harish Raghavan and drummer Eric Harland. He is also a member of Eric Harland Voyager, Kendrick Scott Oracle, and Gretchen Parlato's group.

Contents

Considered to be a child prodigy, since age 15 Eigsti has been a faculty member at the Stanford Jazz Workshop at Stanford University [1] and has won a Grammy for his solo work. [2]

Early life

Eigsti was born to Nancy and Steve Eigsti on September 24, 1984, and grew up in Menlo Park, California. When he was three, his 17-year-old sister, Shannon, died of cancer. Her death made a lasting impression and continued to influence Eigsti's musical development. [3] Eigsti's study of piano began at age four when he was inspired by his older sister, Shannon. [4] He graduated salutatorian of his high school class at Woodside Priory School, where he returned to give the Commencement Address in 2010. He then had a brief stint at the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music before dropping out, midway through his sophomore year, to pursue his musical career. [5]

Musical career

New York-based pianist and composer Taylor Eigsti started playing the piano when he was four years old. Growing up in Menlo Park, California, Eigsti was quickly labeled a prodigy, and has since released 7 albums as a bandleader, in addition to appearing on over 50 albums as a sideman. Eigsti has garnered multiple individual GRAMMY Award nominations over the years for his work as a recording artist and composer, including Best Instrumental Composition, and Best Jazz Instrumental Solo. Eigsti also co-wrote a featured composition with Don Cheadle for the 2017 GRAMMY-winning soundtrack to the motion picture "Miles Ahead".

Eigsti has traveled internationally with his trio and quartet, and has frequently performed as a sideman since moving to New York City in 2008. Eigsti has performed at the Hollywood Bowl, Carnegie Hall, Salle Pleyel, Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Royal Festival Hall, Konzerthaus, Vienna, Olympia Hall, Massey Hall, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall, and many festivals including Montreal International Jazz Festival, North Sea Jazz Festival, Mosaic Music Festival (Singapore), Monterey Jazz Festival, Stockholm Jazz Festival, Istanbul International Jazz Festival, Quito Jazz Festival, Jakarta International Java Jazz Festival, Sydney Jazz Festival, Newport Jazz Festival, Chicago Jazz Festival, Toronto Jazz Festival.

Eigsti has also been featured numerous times in various television specials, NPR appearances, commercials, and composed the theme music to the motion picture "Detachment" starring Oscar-winner Adrien Brody collaborating on the score with the Newton Brothers. In 2018, Eigsti was featured on a television special with Chris Botti for PBS's Great Performances .

Eigsti has performed, toured, or recorded with Dave Brubeck, Chris Botti, Joshua Redman, Julian Lage, David Benoit, Terence Blanchard, Becca Stevens, James Moody, Esperanza Spalding, Lisa Fischer, Ernestine Anderson, Red Holloway, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Diane Schuur, Ambrose Akinmusire, Ben Wendel, Marian McPartland, Christian McBride, Nicholas Payton, Joshua Bell, Chris Potter, Stefon Harris, Sting, John Mayer, Hank Jones, Chick Corea, Snarky Puppy, Vanessa Williams, McCoy Tyner, Joey DeFrancesco, Charles McPherson, Geoffrey Keezer, Eldar Djangirov, Joe Lovano, The Doobie Brothers, and Frederica von Stade, among many others.

In addition to leading and performing with various small ensembles, Eigsti frequently has had the opportunity to work with, compose for and orchestrate music for various symphony orchestras, and has written music for orchestra and jazz ensemble. Various soloist and compositional features include the San José Chamber Orchestra, Oakland Symphony, New York Philharmonic, the New York Pops, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Colorado Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Naples Philharmonic, Nashville Symphony, Sacramento Philharmonic Orchestra, Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, San Jose Youth Symphony, Golden State Youth Orchestra, Bear Valley Music Festival Orchestra, Tassajara Symphony, Reno Philharmonic and multiple featured collaborations with the Peninsula Symphony Orchestra.

Albums as a bandleader

Eigsti released his first album Tay's Groove at age 14. It featured Seward McCain on bass and Dan Brubeck on drums. Eigsti's second album, Live At Filoli, with John Shifflett on bass and Jason Lewis on drums, was recorded at a concert at Filoli Gardens on September 16, 2000. The trio played this concert as a last minute replacement for a Marian McPartland show. His third album, Taylor's Dream, was released in 2001 on DIW Records. Eigsti's first nationally released album was Resonance, recorded in 2003 and released on Bop City Records. It was the trio's third album together and peaked at number five in national jazz radio airplay.

Eigsti's first major label debut was titled Lucky To Be Me. It was released on Concord Records in 2006. Lucky To Be Me features Julian Lage on guitar, Christian McBride on bass, and Lewis Nash on drums. The album received two Grammy Award nominations - one for Best Instrumental Composition on for his song "Argument", and the other for Best Jazz Solo Performance on "Freedom Jazz Dance". [6] The album met with critical acclaim, but it was also criticized for being uneven. [7] In 2008 Eigsti released Let It Come To You, his second release with the Concord label. This album featured Julian Lage on guitar, Reuben Rogers on bass, Eric Harland on drums, Harish Raghavan on bass and Aaron McLendon on drums. Additionally, Joshua Redman, Edmar Castaneda, Dayna Stephens, Ben Wendel, and Evan Francis are featured as guests. Eigsti's next Concord album, Daylight at Midnight, was released on September 21, 2010. This album features vocalist Becca Stevens and several arrangements of contemporary popular artists like Rufus Wainwright, Imogen Heap, and Elliott Smith. [4]

On May 21, 2021, Eigsti released Tree Falls through GSI records. The album features drummer Eric Harland, who co-owns the GSI label, vocalists Becca Stevens, Casey Abrams and Gretchen Parlato, and bass guitarist David "DJ" Ginyard. [8] [9] The album won a Grammy for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album. [10]

Discography

As leader

Year recordedTitleLabelYear releasedPersonnel/Notes
1998Tay's GrooveDIW2001With Seward McCain (bass), Dan Brubeck (drums)
2000Live at FiloliDIW2001With John Shifflett (bass), Jason Lewis (drums); in concert
2001?Taylor's DreamDIW2001With John Shifflett (bass), Jason Lewis (drums)
2003?ResonanceBop City2003With John Shifflett (bass), Jason Lewis (drums)
2006?Lucky to Be Me Concord 2006With Julian Lage (guitar), Christian McBride (bass), Lewis Nash (drums), Billy Kilson (drums), James Genus (bass), Ben Wendel (sax), Eric Marienthal (sax), Adam Schroeder (sax), Garrett Smith (trombone), Greg Adams (trumpet)
2008?Let It Come to YouConcord2008With Julian Lage (guitar), Reuben Rogers (bass), Eric Harland (drums), Harish Raghavan (bass), Aaron McLendon (drums); plus Joshua Redman, Edmar Castaneda, Dayna Stephens, Ben Wendel, and Evan Francis as guests
2010?Daylight at MidnightConcord2010With Becca Stevens (vocals), Harish Raghavan (bass, electric bass), Eric Harland (drums); plus Julian Lage (guitar) as guest
2021?Tree FallsGSI2021With Casey Abrams (vocals), Gretchen Parlato (vocals), Becca Stevens (vocals), Charles Altura (guitar), Ben Wendel (woodwinds), Sam Sadigursky (woodwinds), David Ginyard (bass), Nathan Schram (viola), Hamilton Berry (cello), Emilie Gendron (violin), Eric Harland (drums)

As sideman

Eigsti in 2010 backing Gretchen Parlato on vocals, Alan Hampton on bass, and Kendrick Scott on drums Eigsti-Parlato-Hampton--June2010.jpg
Eigsti in 2010 backing Gretchen Parlato on vocals, Alan Hampton on bass, and Kendrick Scott on drums

With Eric Harland

With Gretchen Parlato

With Anton Schwartz

With Kendrick Scott

With Dayna Stephens

With others

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Avishai Cohen (bassist)</span> Israeli jazz musician

Avishai Cohen is an Israeli jazz double bassist, composer, singer, and arranger.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paquito D'Rivera</span> Cuban saxophonist, clarinetist and composer

Francisco de Jesús Rivera Figueras, known as Paquito D'Rivera, is a Cuban-American alto saxophonist, clarinetist and composer. He was a member of the Cuban songo band Irakere and, since the 1980s, he has established himself as a bandleader in the United States. His smooth saxophone tone and his frequent combination of Latin jazz and classical music have become his trademarks.

Luciana Souza is a Brazilian jazz singer and composer who also works in classical and chamber music. Her song "Muita Bobeira" was featured as a music sample on Windows Vista.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Billy Childs</span> American jazz pianist, arranger and conductor (born 1957)

William Edward Childs is an American composer, jazz pianist, arranger and conductor from Los Angeles, California, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pablo Ziegler</span> Argentine composer

Pablo Ziegler is a Grammy Awards winning Argentine composer, pianist, arranger based in New York City. He is an exponent of nuevo tango, and has worked extensively as Ástor Piazzolla's regular pianist from 1978 until Piazzolla's retirement for health reasons in 1989. During their collaboration, they performed with Milva, Placido Domingo, Gary Burton among others. He played with Piazzolla's re-formed Conjunto 9 in 1983 for his Teatro Colón concert with the Buenos Aires Philharmonic. In 1985 Ziegler composed the music for the film Adios Roberto, and in 1990, he established the New Tango Quartet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vince Mendoza</span> American musician

Vince Mendoza is an American composer, music arranger and conductor. He debuted as a solo artist in 1989, and is known for his work conducting the Metropole Orkest and WDR Big Band Köln, as well as arranging music for musicians such as John Scofield, Joni Mitchell, Michael Brecker and Björk. Over the course of his career, he has won seven Grammy Awards and one Latin Grammy Award and has been nominated for a total of 38 between the two awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julian Lage</span> American guitarist and composer (born 1987)

Julian Lage is an American guitarist and composer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gretchen Parlato</span> American jazz singer

Gretchen Parlato is an American jazz singer and two-time Grammy nominee. She has performed and recorded with musicians such as Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Kenny Barron, Esperanza Spalding, Terence Blanchard, Marcus Miller and Lionel Loueke.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kendrick Scott</span> American jazz drummer, bandleader, and composer

Kendrick Scott is an American jazz drummer, bandleader, and composer. He is the founder of the record label World Culture Music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gerald Clayton</span> Jazz pianist and composer

Gerald William Clayton is a Dutch-born American jazz pianist, composer and bandleader.

Sachal Vasandani, known professionally as Sachal, is an American jazz singer. Vasandani released Slow Motion Miracles on the Okeh label in 2015. He previously released three albums on Mack Avenue Records, Eyes Wide Open in 2007, We Move in 2009, and Hi-Fly in 2011. He is known for his unique interpretations of jazz standards and instrumental music, and is also a songwriter, composer and improvisor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duduka Da Fonseca</span> Musical artist

Duduka Da Fonseca, born Eduardo Moreira Da Fonseca is a Brazilian jazz drummer who is a founding member of Trio da Paz with Romero Lubambo and Nilson Matta. He leads the Duduka da Fonseca Trio, with David Feldman and Guto Wirtti.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eric Harland</span> American jazz drummer

Eric Harland is an American jazz drummer.

<i>Sounding Point</i> 2009 studio album by Julian Lage

Sounding Point is the debut studio album by the then 21-year-old jazz guitarist Julian Lage. It was released in March 2009 by EmArcy Records. It entered the Billboard Top Contemporary Jazz Albums chart at number 13 and was nominated for the 2010 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album. Reviews of the album were generally positive; one reviewer found the recording inferior to Lage's live performances.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Becca Stevens</span> American jazz, pop, and folk singer

Becca Stevens is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist who draws upon elements of jazz, chamber pop, indie rock, and folk.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ben Wendel</span> Musical artist

Ben Wendel is a grammy nominated jazz saxophonist, bassoonist, and pianist who is a founding member of the band Kneebody. He has worked with Snoop Dogg, Ignacio Berroa, Daedelus, Taylor Eigsti, Gerald Clayton, and Tigran Hamasyan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dayna Stephens</span> American jazz saxophonist and composer (born 1978)

Dayna Stephens is an American jazz saxophonist and composer. In addition to leading his own group, Stephens has performed extensively with Kenny Barron, Ambrose Akinmusire, Taylor Eigsti, Julian Lage, Eric Harland, and Gerald Clayton. Stephens grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and attended Berkeley High School. He went on to study at the Berklee School of Music and later at the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leron Thomas</span> Musical artist

Leron Thomas is an American jazz trumpeter, composer and vocalist noted for his musical style as a "masterful genre-bender". Born in Houston, Texas Thomas attended the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. He moved to New York City to study Jazz and Contemporary Music at The New School university. There he studied alongside many notable contemporaries and began working professionally prior to his graduation in 2003. He went the 2019 Grammys awards ceremony and watched his fellow classmate win. Thomas is also a rapper under the alias Pan Amsterdam.

Timothy M. Ries is an American saxophonist, composer, arranger, band leader, and music educator at the collegiate/conservatory level. Ries is in his seventeenth year as a professor of jazz studies at the University of Toronto. His universe of work as composer, arranger, and instrumentalist ranges from rock to jazz to classical to experimental to ethno to fusions of respective genres thereof. His notable works with wide popularity include The Rolling Stones Project, a culmination of jazz arrangements of music by the Stones produced on two albums, the first in 2005 and the second in 2008.

Vadim Neselovskyi is a Ukrainian pianist and composer based in New York City. He currently serves as a professor of jazz piano at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. Neselovskyi joined 6-Time Grammy Winner Gary Burton’s Generations Quintet of future all-stars including Julian Lage, Luques Curtis, and James Williams in 2004 and has been working as Gary Burton’s pianist and arranger for more than a decade, touring the US, Europe, and Japan. His recent appearances with Burton include Newport Jazz Festival, Chicago Jazz Festival and Detroit Jazz Festival. His work can be heard on three Gary Burton’s recordings: Next Generation (Concord) as a pianist, composer and arranger, If You Love Me as an arranger and on Common Ground as a composer. The "Next Generation" CD has reached Nr.1 on Jazzweek chart in US on April 27, 2005.

References

  1. "Stanford Jazz Festival, Jazz Camp & Jazz Residency: A swinging success!". Stanford Jazz Workshop. Retrieved 2010-09-25.
  2. Evan Minsker, "Grammys 2022 Winners: See the Full List Here", Pitchfork, April 3, 2022
  3. Harrington, Jim (1997-11-05). "In the key of life". Palo Alto Online. Retrieved 2010-09-11.
  4. 1 2 "Taylor Eigsti - Pianist | Composer | Artist | Two-time Grammy Nominee". Taylor Eigsti. Web. 23 Apr. 2012. <http://www.tayjazz.com/>.
  5. "Taylor Eigsti and the Prodigy Thing". Interview by Judith Schlesinger. All About Jazz. All About Jazz, 22 Oct. 2004. Web. 24 Apr. 2012.
  6. "Taylor Eigsti". GRAMMY.com. 2020-11-23. Retrieved 2021-07-15.
  7. Chinen, Nate. "Taylor Eigsti Quartet". New York Times: E.1:21.
  8. "Artist-Owned GSI Fosters Creative Freedom". 24 November 2018.
  9. Cristi, A. A. "Pianist, Composer Taylor Eigsti's Ambitious New Album 'Tree Falls' To Be Released May 21". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  10. Evan Minsker, "Grammys 2022 Winners: See the Full List Here", Pitchfork, April 3, 2022