Taylor Eigsti

Taylor Eigsti, a pianist and composer who earned a Grammy, emerges as an exceptionally gifted jazz musician whose sound, firmly grounded in acoustic post-bop conventions, also incorporates strands of current pop, folk, and electronic music. He first attracted notice as a teenager during the early 2000s. After joining Concord, he reached a broader audience by issuing several praised straight-ahead recordings, among them the 2006 album Lucky to Be Me that featured guitarist Julian Lage and bassist Christian McBride, and the 2008 set Let it Come to You that included saxophonist Joshua Redman and woodwind player Ben Wendel. A shift toward a contemporary direction arrived with 2010’s Daylight at Midnight, where he partnered with singer Becca Stevens and interpreted material by Coldplay, Feist, and Elliott Smith. While maintaining ongoing work with artists such as trumpeter Chris Botti, drummer Kendrick Scott, and vocalist Gretchen Parlato, Eigsti received the Grammy for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album for his 2021 release Tree Falls and returned in 2024 with Plot Armor.

Born in 1984 in Menlo Park, California, Eigsti was raised in a musical household whose parents both performed on piano. A child prodigy, he began piano lessons at age four and by age eight had already opened for pianist David Benoit. Alongside classical training, he was drawn early to jazz’s improvisational character. Art Tatum exerted a profound influence, prompting later discoveries of pianists such as Oscar Peterson, Gene Harris, Monty Alexander, and Benny Green. At age 13 he appeared with legendary pianist Dave Brubeck, and a year afterward issued his first album, Tay’s Groove, which featured drummer Dan Brubeck, son of the veteran pianist.

Still attending high school, he devoted periods to study at the Stanford Jazz Workshop and joined its faculty at age 15. Around that time saxophonist Red Holloway caught Eigsti performing in San Jose and asked him to serve as special guest with his band aboard the SS Norway jazz cruise; two years later Eigsti headlined the same cruise with his own trio. Additional prominent engagements followed, including opening slots for Diana Krall, Al Jarreau, Natalie Cole, and Hank Jones. After graduating as salutatorian of his high-school class, Eigsti pursued jazz studies at the University of Southern California. In September 2002 his trio—bassist John Shifflett and drummer Jason Lewis—made its debut appearance at the Monterey Jazz Festival. The same musicians had earlier accompanied him on his independent 2001 debut Taylor’s Dream for the Japanese label DIW. Two years afterward Eigsti released another trio album, Resonance, on Bop City.

Wider recognition arrived in 2006 with his Concord debut Lucky to Be Me, supported by an all-star rhythm section that included guitarist Julian Lage, bassist Christian McBride, and drummer Lewis Nash. The album earned two Grammy nominations: Best Instrumental Composition for the track “Argument” and Best Jazz Solo Performance for his version of “Freedom Jazz Dance.”

On his second Concord outing, 2008’s Let it Come to You, he was again joined by guitarist Lage and employed two alternating rhythm sections—one comprising bassist Reuben Rogers and drummer Eric Harland, the other bassist Harish Raghavan and drummer Aaron McLendon—while welcoming guest appearances by Joshua Redman, Edmar Castaneda, Dayna Stephens, Ben Wendel, and Evan Francis.

Eigsti’s third album, Daylight at Midnight, appeared in 2010 and highlighted collaborations with vocalist Becca Stevens while venturing into a more contemporary idiom and drawing on material from outside jazz, including interpretations of songs by Coldplay, Feist, Nick Drake, and Elliott Smith.

During the ensuing years he stepped back from solo projects to tour and record with artists including Gretchen Parlato, Saschal Vasandani, Kendrick Scott, and Chris Botti. In 2021 he reemerged with Tree Falls, again incorporating vocalists such as Becca Stevens, Casey Abrams, and Gretchen Parlato together with drummer Eric Harland and bassist David Ginyard. The stylistically hybrid recording captured the Grammy for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album.

For his ninth album, 2024’s Plot Armor, Eigsti enlisted two guest artists per track, pairing soloists such as vocalist Lisa Fischer with trumpeter Terence Blanchard, saxophonists Ben Wendel and Dayna Stephens, and singers Gretchen Parlato and Becca Stevens.