David Taylor

This is not a recording for the fainthearted, the straitlaced, or the stylistically correct. Bass trombonist David Taylor has assembled a multi-faceted self-portrait out of pieces he selected, inspired, and composed. His eclecticism demonstrates how meaningless the old stylistic boundaries are for a contemporary artist. Taylor is known for his work with such artists as Duke Ellington, Barbra Streisand, Frank Sinatra, Aretha Franklin, The Rolling Stones, and Quincy Jones. He also premiered compositions by Charles Wuorinen, Alan Hovhaness, Frederic Rzewski, David Liebman, Lucia Dlugoszewski, and George Perle.

Taylor’'s range extends from Bachian piety to Yiddish irony, from the idealism of Charles Ives to the hipster nihilism of Lenny Bruce. His music represents the spirit of improvisation and risk as opposed to conservatory notions of perfection. Playing a “marginal” instrument such as the bass trombone, Taylor turns marginality into a virtue, by transforming his instrument into a multiplicity of sounds and voices.