36 Facts About Craig Taborn

Craig Marvin Taborn is an American pianist, organist, keyboardist and composer.

Craig Taborn 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.

Craig Taborn went on to play with numerous other musicians in electronic and acoustic settings, while building a reputation as a solo pianist.

Craig Taborn 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.

Craig Taborn's 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.

Craig Taborn was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to John, a psychologist, and Marjorie, a social worker.

Craig Taborn's father was a department chair at the University of Minnesota and his mother worked for Minneapolis public schools.

Craig Taborn's parents gave him a Moog synthesizer as a present when he was 12, which was around the time when he started playing piano.

Craig Taborn received basic instruction initially from his father, who played by ear.

Craig Taborn borrowed records from a public library and listened to public radio, discovering music from the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians and Sun Ra, among others.

At high school, Craig Taborn studied music theory and composition for two years with teachers who had doctorates in music.

Craig Taborn borrowed from the library Segments II by pianist Cecil Taylor's band while at high school, but found separating the various elements of the music too difficult.

Craig Taborn studied at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor from 1988.

Craig Taborn auditioned for the jazz program in the university's School of Music, but joined the College of Literature, Science and the Arts.

Craig Taborn met drummer Gerald Cleaver soon after arriving at university, and they established an electronic group, the Tracey Science Quartet.

Craig Taborn's first recording as leader came in 1994, and was released by DIW.

Craig Taborn Trio, with bassist Jaribu Shahid and drummer Tani Tabbal, featured Taborn playing in a range of styles on piano and included several of his own compositions.

Frequent performances and tours with Carter and others meant that Craig Taborn's studies were delayed: he graduated from university with a BA in general studies in April 1995, after which he moved to New York.

In 2001, Craig Taborn made his second recording as leader: Light Made Lighter, for Thirsty Ear, with Chris Lightcap on bass and Cleaver on drums.

Craig Taborn played and recorded with a large, diverse range of musicians, in both free jazz and more mainstream bands, and playing various keyboard and electronic instruments.

In 2003, Craig Taborn toured Europe with Ibarra's band, and played with saxophonist Lotte Anker for the first time.

Craig Taborn played with Chris Potter from around 2005, and toured Europe with the saxophonist's Underground band early in 2007.

In late 2007 and early 2008, Craig Taborn toured internationally with Underground, 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.

Craig 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.

Also in 2009, Craig Taborn played with trumpeter Tomasz Stanko in New York, and returned to Europe for concerts with Torn, violinist Dominique Pifarely, and with his own trio.

Craig Taborn had a solo tour of Europe in 2010, which may have led to an agreement with ECM to record his first solo piano album, Avenging Angel, which was released in 2011.

The album helped Craig Taborn get more attention as a leader.

In 2010, Craig Taborn toured Europe with Anker's trio, Potter's Underground, and played piano duets with Vijay Iyer.

Craig 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.

Craig Taborn played as part of the Ches Smith Trio late in 2014 and toured with the percussionist and Mat Maneri early in 2016.

Craig Taborn has a minimal social media presence and controls all of his US bookings personally.

Some of his friends told The New York Times author of a 2017 profile piece on Craig Taborn "how relieved they were that someone, at last, was profiling him, as if he were being forced out of hiding".

Craig Taborn starts simply, using basic elements such as major and minor thirds, varies them in turn, and then continues to expand to create larger structures.

Craig Taborn uses a combination of his attack and the piano's sustain pedal to draw attention to the upper partials of a note; this allows a heightened contrast between notes to be perceived.

Craig Taborn has commented on the similarities and differences in his playing on piano and electronic instruments.

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