Craig Taborn

Craig Taborn, born in 1970 in Minneapolis, started out very young playing with drummer Gerald Cleaver. Then he joined the James Cartet Quartet (Carter on saxophones, Jaribu Shahid on bass and Tani Tabbai on drums) for their alsumbs JC On The Set (april 1993) and Jurassic Classics (april 1994).

Taborn formed the Craig Taborn Trio (april 1994) with Carter's rhythm section (Jaribu Shahid on bass and Tani Tabbai on drums).

Relocating to New York in 1995, Taborn played in several bands (Tim Berne, Susie Ibarra, Steve Coleman, Dave Douglas, Marty Ehrlich, Evan Parker, Wadada Leo Smith) and eventually organized another trio, with Gerald Cleaver (drums) and Chris Lightcap (bass), that recorded Light Made Lighter (october 2001).

Following several collaborations with saxophonists Roscoe Mitchell and James Carter, Taborn brought out Junk Magic (august 2003), possibly his most creative album, recorded by a quartet along with Aaron Stewart (tenor sax), Mat Maneri (viola) and Dave King (drums). The album marked his foray in electronica, as he played electronic keyboards besides piano.

The project Hardcell consisted of Tim Berne (sax), Taborn and Tom Rainey (drums), as documented on Electric And Acoustic Hard Cell Live (Screwgun, 2004) and Feign (may 2005). A trio with Danish saxophonist Lotte Anker and drummer Gerald Cleaver recorded Triptych (may 2003), containing the 13-minute Triptych and the 12-minute Cumulus, Floating Islands (july 2008), containing the 16-minute Ritual and the 18-minute Backwards River, and Live At The Loft (june 2005)

Avenging Angel (july 2010) was his first solo piano album.

Farmers By Nature (june 2008) was recorded live with William Parker (bass) and Gerald Cleaver (drums). The live avant-garde Rocket Science (may 2012) features Sam Pluta on computer, Evan Parker on saxes and Peter Evans on trumpet. Chants (june 2012) documents another trio, this time with veteran Gerald Cleaver and Thomas Morgan. Dave Holland debuted Prism, a quartet with Craig Taborn (piano and Fender Rhodes) Kevin Eubanks (guitar) and Eric Harland (drums), on Prism (june 2012).

Taborn played piano and electronics on Daylight Ghosts (may 2016), flanked by Chris Speed (tenor sax, clarinet), Chris Lightcap (acoustic and electric bass;) and Dave King (drums, electronic percussion).

Octopus (Pyroclastic, 2018) documents live piano duets with Kris Davis.

Craig Taborn, Sylvie Courvoisier, Brian Marsella, Kris Davis, Aruan Ortiz and Anthony Coleman paid tribute to Cecil Taylor on Six Encomiums for Cecil Taylor (may 2018) and formed the Winged Serpents.

Golden Valley Is Now (august 2018), a tribute to his native land, documents the trio of Craig Taborn (electric & acoustic pianos & synth), Reid Anderson (electric bass & electronics) and Dave King (acoustic & electronic drums).

Da’at (december 2017) was a collaboration with fellow pianist Vadim Neselovskyi, Dan Loomis (bass) and Ronen Itzik (drums).

Junk Magic returned with a new lineup comprising Chris Speed on tenor sax & clarinet, Mat Maneri on viola, Erik Fratzke on electric bass and Dave King on drums, documented on Compass Confusion (Pyroclastic, 2020).

Craig Taborn also played on Steve Lehman Trio's The People I Love (2019).

Shadow Plays (march 2020) documents a live solo piano performance, notably the 17-minute Bird Templars and the 18-minute Shadow Play.

Ches Smith's Interpret It Well (october 2020) featured Craig Taborn (piano), Mat Maneri (viola) and Bill Frisell (electric guitar).