Taylor Eigsti
piano
New York-based pianist and composer Taylor Eigsti started playing the piano when he was 4 years old, inspired by his sister Shannon, a jazz and rock pianist. His musical journey since has been filled with many exciting opportunities to grow as a musician, artist, and educator. Eigsti started bandleading at age 12, was quickly labeled a prodigy, and released four early albums as a leader before having his major-label debut on Concord Records. Lucky to Be Me, released in 2006, was nominated for two Grammy awards for Best Instrumental Compostion and Best Instrumental Jazz Solo.
The past few years have been especially exciting for the 26-year-old Bay Area native, who has increased his creative output and earned more acclaim with each passing year. Eigsti released Let it Come to You (Concord) in 2008, garnering many four-star reviews from such publications as Downbeat and All Music Guide. Eigsti has performed or recorded with such luminaries as Dave Brubeck, Christian McBride, Joshua Redman, Nicholas Payton, James Moody, Ernestine Anderson, David Benoit, Frederica Von Stade, Gretchen Parlato, Dave Douglas, The Clayton Brothers, and Red Holloway, among many others. He has also performed internationally for 11 years with Grammy-nominated guitarist Julian Lage, his close musical collaborator. Eigsti has been featured on many radio shows, including Marian McPartland's award-winning NPR program PianoJazz on three occasions.
Eigsti is also a dedicated and inspiring educator, leading numerous masterclasses and clinics for 15 years at music workshops and camps, and various colleges such as the University of North Texas, UC Berkeley, Skidmore College, NYU, San Jose State, and many more. He is on the advisory board of Stanford Jazz Workshop, where he has taught for 11 years.
Recently, Taylor has recently released a brand-new recording for the Concord Music Group - his seventh - entitled Daylight at Midnight which highlights the influence of lyrically-driven acoustic rock music through covers of songs by Coldplay, Feist, MuteMath, Nick Drake, Elliot Smith, and many others, in addition to originals.
Selected Discography
As a leader
Daylight at Midnight (Concord Records, 2010)
Let It Come to You (Concord Records, 2008)
Lucky to Be Me (Concord Records, 2006) – Grammy nominations for Best Instrumental Composition and Best Jazz Instrumental Solo
Resonance (Bop City Records, 2003)
Taylor’s Dream (DIW Records, 2002)
Live at Filoli (Tayjazz Music, 2001)
Tay’s Groove (Tayjazz Music, 1999)
As a sideman
Gretchen Parlato – The Lost and Found (Obliqsound, 2011)
Eric Harland – Voyager – Live by Night (Space Time Records, 2010)
Julian Lage – Sounding Point (Emarcy, 2009) – Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Jazz Album
Dayna Stephens – The Timeless Now (Contagious Music, 2007)
