Craig Taborn

[Richard Barrett]

To whom it may concern: here

https://www.mixcloud.com/bimhuis/craig-taborn-solo-07-02-2016/

is a very nicely recorded recent live solo set in Amsterdam by Craig Taborn, one of the great creative pianists of our time IMO.

[Ian Thumwood]

Richard

Craig Taborn is a really difficult pianist to categorise. I don't have any records made under his own name but he frequently crops up in all variety of settings on other records. Off the top of my head, he is on a Rob Brown quartet session that I have as well as discs with Alex Sipiagin. He is one of the pianists who if going to always give 100% and be a dedicated participant in more forward thinking groups. Calum is a massive fan.

I was surprised to see him signed up by ECM but the label seems to be snapping up a lot of more interesting players like Vijay Iyer and David Virelles, both musicians who are contributing to the piano legacy as opposed to the pseudo - jazz pop acts which form the basis of a lot of the current crop of piano trios, especially in Europe.

I have seen Craig Taborn perform with another innovator, Tim Berne, about 10 years ago and he was the most interesting musician in the group. I would have to admit that I find Berne to be a bit prickly when it comes to the question and answer sessions that often take place before his gigs. When Taborn performed with Berne, I felt that the pianist was really forthcoming in responding to his questions and came across as very personable and modest. He spoke eloquently about his enthusiasm for Sun Ra.

[Ian Thumwood]

Review of Ches SMith's "The Bell" which features Craig Taborn. Quite interested to read this because the ECM reviews I tend to encounter on "All about jazz" are so almost totally uncritical as to be worthless. At least this review seems a bit more honest although I haven't heard the record in question myself:-

http://jazztimes.com/articles/171776-the-bell-ches-smith

[MrGongGong]

Craig Taborn is a really difficult pianist to categorise.

Good
It might stop the Jazz Police

[Ian Thumwood]

Good
It might stop the Jazz Police

I was really surprised when he turned up on ECM but Eicher seems to becoming more switched on with the likes of Virelles and Iyer signed to his label. My worry is that Eicher's need to concentrate on icy introspection means that the records by some artists are a bit more muted than their performances on other labels. I would always consider Taborn to be a progressive kind of player and would be a bit concerned that his output on ECM could be channelled in the same fashion that Jason Moran's performances on the label are not as robust as his efforts with the likes of Eric Revis where the musical gloves come off. The label is clearly a lot more interesting than it has been since the mid 90's but I wish Eicher would let some of his artists sharpen their teeth a bit more and issue albums with more balance and less moody introspection.

[Beef Oven!]

Good
It might stop the Jazz Police