Craig Taborn

Craig Taborn
Born	Minneapolis
Nationality	United States of America
Genres	jazz
Instruments	piano · musical keyboard

Craig Taborn
Taborn at the Moers Festival, 2012
Background information
Birth name	Craig Marvin Taborn
Born	(1970-02-20) February 20, 1970 Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.
Genres	Jazz
Occupation(s)	Musician, composer
Instrument(s)	Piano, keyboards, organ, electronics
Years active	Late 1980s–present
Labels	DIW, Thirsty Ear, ECM
Website	www.craigtaborn.com

Craig Marvin Taborn (/ˈteɪˌbɔːrn/; born February 20, 1970) is an American pianist, organist, keyboardist and composer. He works solo and in bands, mostly playing various forms of jazz. He started playing piano and Moog synthesizer as an adolescent and was influenced at an early stage by a wide range of music, including by the freedom expressed in recordings of free jazz and contemporary classical music.

While at university, Taborn toured and recorded with jazz saxophonist James Carter. Taborn went on to play with numerous other musicians in electronic and acoustic settings, while also building a reputation as a solo pianist. He has a range of styles, and often adapts his playing to the nature of the instrument and the sounds that he can make it produce. His improvising, particularly for solo piano, often adopts a modular approach, in which he begins with small units of melody and rhythm and then develops them into larger forms and structures.

In 2011, Down Beat magazine chose Taborn as winner of the electric keyboard category, as well as rising star in both the piano and organ categories. By the end of 2020, Taborn had appeared on 14 albums as a leader or co-leader and more than 100 as a sideman.

Early life

Taborn was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to John, a psychologist, and Marjorie, a social worker. Taborn's older brother, John Gregory, became a psychologist. which was also around the time when he started playing piano. In his own words, he is "not a classically trained pianist at all"; He borrowed from the library Segments II (Orchestra Of Two Continents) by pianist Cecil Taylor's band while at high school, but found separating the various elements of the music too difficult.

Later life and career

1988–1999

Taborn studied at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor from 1988. He auditioned for the jazz program in the university's School of Music, but joined the College of Literature, Science and the Arts. where he contributed to a series of albums, beginning with JC on the Set, which was recorded in 1993.

Taborn's first recording as leader came in 1994, and was released by DIW. At this stage in his career, his comments on his tastes in composition and performance were: "Even though I like avant garde jazz and classical music, I like to swing. I like to work with harmony and melody in my own music, and I like acoustical instruments. But I can be quite dictatorial about the composed section, and lay down in great detail what everyone is supposed to do and how they should do it." He continued playing with Carter into 1998. In the late 1990s, Taborn also recorded with saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell (Taborn's first appearance on the ECM label),

2000–2009

Taborn in 2008

In 2001, Taborn made his second recording as leader: Light Made Lighter, for Thirsty Ear, with Chris Lightcap on bass and Cleaver on drums. "On the strength of this recording", wrote the Los Angeles Times reviewer, "Taborn emerges as one of the most exciting pianists to lead a band since the ascent of Matthew Shipp". Another reviewer commented that "Taborn seems to revel in the cracks the way [Thelonious] Monk did, hitting the awkward-sounding notes between the notes to punctuate his lines".

In the 2000s, "Taborn became one of the most in-demand musicians in New York", in the words of one biographer. One critic observed that a lot of his collaborations in the early and mid-2000s did not feature a bassist, and suggested that Taborn's "dexterity and inventiveness [...] stand in for both a keyboard and a bass player." Taborn went on to record, during the period 2002–04, as a sideman under the leadership of Steve Coleman, Dave Douglas, Marty Ehrlich, Drew Gress, Evan Parker, Wadada Leo Smith, and others. In 2003, Taborn toured Europe with Ibarra's band,

Taborn's third release as a leader was Junk Magic in 2004, again for Thirsty Ear, with tenor saxophonist Aaron Stewart, violist Mat Maneri and drummer Dave King. The album's title was also the name of the band, which was formed to be Taborn's electronic group, allowing him to explore the interactions of composition, improvisation and electronics. Texture and pulse were important contributors to the overall sound.

Taborn played with Chris Potter from around 2005, and toured Europe with the saxophonist's Underground band early in 2007. The pianist played the Monterey Jazz Festival in 2007. guitarist David Torn's Prezens, as well as being part of shorter tours and making occasional appearances with Cleaver, Gress, Ibarra, Mitchell, and William Parker. In April 2008 he toured Europe with Berne's Science Friction, was back in Europe for the first three weeks of the following month, this time as part of David Binney's quartet, and returned there in November with Potter. Taborn remarked in 2008 that he was attempting to phase out his use of a laptop in performance, to allow him to concentrate more on improvising, and that he had delayed further performances as a leader, owing to finances. In the same year, he commented on the number of regular, working bands he was a member of: "You could say 15 to 20. But if you're talking about the ones that are regularly working right now, I'd have to say seven or eight."

After joining Michael Formanek's quartet in 2008, Taborn recorded under the double bassist's leadership for the first time the following year. Also in 2009, Taborn played with trumpeter Tomasz Stańko in New York, and returned to Europe for concerts with Torn, violinist Dominique Pifarély, and with his own trio.

2010–present

Taborn at Seixal Jazz, 2014

In the early 2010s, Taborn continued playing and recording with others, but also had more solo concerts than earlier in his career. In critic Nate Chinen's view, this album concentrated on "pure sound", being "full of moments where a note hangs sharply in the air, and you hear the gathering overtones, the vibrations of the strings". The album helped Taborn get more attention as a leader.

In 2010, Taborn also toured Europe with Anker's trio, and played piano duets with Vijay Iyer. In the following year, Taborn again performed with Stańko, as part of drummer Paul Motian's quartet, and had another solo tour of Europe. Taborn toured internationally with his own trio, Anker's trio, and with Dave Holland's quartet Prism in 2012, and remained part of Holland's band into 2014.

A further ECM album, Chants, led by Taborn and with bassist Thomas Morgan and drummer Gerald Cleaver, was released in 2013. This was the trio's first release after eight years together. At this point, Taborn's comments on composition and group performance were: "I knew that if I created a context and then deferred, fully, to Gerald's and Thomas's sensibilities it would inherently be stimulating and would also challenge the context. [...] I'd much rather engage with the group, always, than have the format be 'piano adventures with supporting cast'." This band began a tour of Europe in 2014, but Cleaver was replaced by J.T. Bates part of the way through it, owing to illness. Earlier the same year, Taborn played in a small group led by guitarist Bill Frisell. Taborn played as part of the Ches Smith Trio late in 2014 and toured with the percussionist and Mat Maneri early in 2016. His sixth album as leader, Flaga: Book of Angels Volume 27, was released in 2016. Taborn's next ECM album was the quartet Daylight Ghosts, which combined electronic and acoustic elements. This was followed by a string of duo albums: Octopus with Kris Davis from 2016; Highsmith with Ikue Mori in 2017; and The Transitory Poems with Iyer from 2018. 16 years after their first album, Junk Magic had a second released in 2020 – Compass Confusion, with the Taborn-led band expanded to a quintet. The following year, Taborn made available for free streaming 60 X Sixty – 60 tracks of around a minute in length, played in a random order at 60xsixty.com.

Character and preferences

According to Jazz Police, Taborn is "basically shy" and prefers to "let his music do the talking", which is why he "doesn't have, or want, his own website". In an interview for Down Beat in 2011, Taborn described his improvising style, particularly for solo piano. When playing, he often adopts a modular approach, using small units of melody and rhythm and then developing them. This can begin from as little as three notes, with structure being built around referring back to elements of the units. He starts simply, using basic elements such as major and minor thirds, varies them in turn, and then continues to expand to create larger structures.

Taborn prefers earlier models of Fender Rhodes, for their raunchier sound.

Guitarist David Torn commented that Taborn is "the rare musician who takes the approach, 'What can I do with this instrument?' rather than playing through its book of techniques. [...He] is able to eschew the technological aspect in order to get out the sounds that he feels are suitable for the music."

Compositions

Taborn incorporates requirements to improvise within his compositions. Commenting on his writing for trio and quartet, Taborn stated that "I like multiple kinds of rhythmic things. On their own, they're not so complicated, but when you fit them together, it sounds a little mysterious. A lot of that writing extends from my trio writing, where I'm writing things that are playable in real time. There's a certain orchestration you can get out of a four-piece. How far can we suggest a larger ensemble? [I want] to create the illusion of a larger ensemble". His compositions typically do not include chord changes, but contain superimposed, contrapuntal melodies.

Awards

In 2009 and 2010, Down Beat critics selected Taborn as the electric keyboard rising star winner. In 2011, he was chosen as winner of the electric keyboard category, as well as rising star in both the piano and organ categories. In 2012, he was given the North Sea Jazz Festival's Paul Acket Award, which is presented "to an artist deserving wider recognition for extraordinary musicianship". JazzTimes ranked Taborn in their 2013 critics' poll as best piano player. In 2014, the Jazz Journalists Association awarded him the Pianist of the Year award.

In 2014, Taborn was given a Doris Duke Artist Award, worth up to $275,000 and given to "exemplary individual artists in contemporary dance, jazz, theatre and related interdisciplinary work who have proven their artistic vitality and commitment to their field."

Discography

Further information: Craig Taborn discography

As leader/co-leader

Year recorded	Year released	Title	Label	Notes
1994	1994	Craig Taborn Trio	DIW	Trio, with Jaribu Shahid (bass), Tani Tabbal (drums)
2001	2001	Light Made Lighter	Thirsty Ear	Trio, with Chris Lightcap (bass), Gerald Cleaver (drums)
2004	2004	Junk Magic	Thirsty Ear	Quartet, with Aaron Stewart (tenor sax), Mat Maneri (viola), Dave King (drums)
2010	2011	Avenging Angel	ECM	Solo piano
2012	2013	Chants	ECM	Trio, with Thomas Morgan (bass), Gerald Cleaver (drums)
2015	2017	Ljubljana	Clean Feed	Duo, co-led with Mats Gustafsson (slide sax, baritone sax)
2015	2016	Flaga: Book of Angels Volume 27	Tzadik	Trio, with Christian McBride (bass), Tyshawn Sorey (drums)
2016	2017	Daylight Ghosts	ECM	Quartet, with Chris Speed (tenor sax, clarinet), Chris Lightcap (bass), Dave King (drums)
2016	2018	Octopus	Pyroclastic	Duo, co-led with Kris Davis (piano)
2017	2017	Highsmith	Tzadik	Duo, co-led with Ikue Mori (electronics)
2017	2019	Da'at	Tzadik	Six tracks solo piano; two tracks duo, with Vadim Neselovskyi (piano); other tracks do not feature Taborn
2018	2019	The Transitory Poems	ECM	Duo, co-led with Vijay Iyer (piano)
2018	2019	Golden Valley Is Now	Intakt	Trio, co-led with Reid Anderson (electric bass, electronics), Dave King (drums)
2020	2020	Compass Confusion	Pyroclastic	As "Junk Magic"; quintet, with Chris Speed (tenor sax, clarinet), Mat Maneri (viola), Erik Fratzke (bass), Dave King (drums)
2020	2021	Shadow Plays	ECM	Solo piano; in concert

References

Cohen, Aaron (February 2014). "Prism: Fantastic Four". Down Beat. 81 (2).

• Micallef, Ken (March 2017). "Craig Taborn: 'Go Inside the Sound'". Down Beat. 84 (3).
• Panken, Ted (September 2008). "Keyboard Wizard: Unraveling Craig Taborn's Electric (And Acoustic) Soundscapes". Down Beat. 75 (9).