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SocialAbout Craig's Work
Craig Taborn is an improvising musician and composer creating singular soundscapes through a virtuosic command of piano and expansive knowledge of musical genres. In performances and recordings as a soloist, bandleader, and sideman, Taborn brings a fearless and sophisticated approach to music making. He draws from musical traditions as varied as traditional and contemporary jazz, contemporary classical, experimental, electronic, rock, metal, and hip-hop. His constant exploration of genre and style informs his own distinct musical intelligence and voice.
With a precise touch and keen sensitivity to an instrument’s capabilities, Taborn elicits distinct textures from the piano and electronic keyboard. He also exploits the percussive qualities of the instruments themselves, and under his hands the piano can sound paper thin, digitally distorted, or as sonorous as a double bass. Taborn’s first solo piano album, Avenging Angel (2011), resonates with haunting and complex patterns that draw on experimental jazz and classical Western and Eastern music He explores the piano’s full range, melodically, sonically, and spatially. In his compositions for solo piano and ensembles, Taborn leaves space for improvisation within a focused compositional logic. He creates modular structures that players can move between and combine in a variety of ways while maintaining the compositional integrity of the piece. On Chants (2013), for his trio of piano, bass, and drum, the instrumentalists layer contrasting parts over one another, but the individual units remain distinct.
More recently, Taborn presents a fully improvised, live performance on the recording Shadow Plays (2021). In long episodic suites, he juxtaposes skittering trills, flowing melodies, and sustained distinctive textures to create a sense of tension and intrigue that demands rapt attention. Taborn and collaborators infuse classical idioms with jazz improvisation on the 2023 album hEARoes, featuring Taborn in a trio with viola and double bass. A rare artist of unusual depth and originality, Taborn enhances musical collaborations and composition through his expansive exploration of sound, technique, and instrumentation.
