Taylor Eigsti 'Lucky to Be Me' album

Welcome to one of the brightest new stars of jazz: Taylor Eigsti. While the 21-year-old pianist/composer/bandleader has been on the jazz scene since he was a pre-teen, his debut on Concord Records, Lucky to Be Me, promises to afford him the full-fledged exposure he deserves. With four CDs on micro-indies already to his credit, and an array of live performances on his resume with such top-notch jazz figures as Dave Brubeck, James Moody, and Ernestine Anderson, Eigsti is obviously no rookie to the music. He delivers an expansive stylistic set list on Lucky to Be Me—from originals and jazz standards, to a fresh take on a classical composition. Eigsti’s sound is rooted in jazz history, but it also incorporates the progressive jazz sound of the 21st century. While Eigsti truly dazzles on the keys, he also offers a compelling modern rhythmic palette, encompassing funk, hip-hop, and free feels, in addition to swing.

“Cross-genre pollination seems to be the norm today, and I enjoy assimilating other genres, using the mechanisms and integrity of jazz,” says Eigsti, who represents Concord’s commitment to the best and brightest of jazz’s future stars. “I have listened to all the older sources, like Charlie Parker, Phineas Newborn, and Oscar Peterson, and derive many influences from them. But I’m also influenced as much by players from a younger generation, such as Brad Mehldau and Geoff Keezer. I think the younger musicians have a responsibility to move the music forward, and seeing younger people bringing so many new elements into jazz really inspires me.”

On Lucky to Be Me, Eigsti frames himself with two world-class rhythm teams: bassist Christian McBride and drummer Lewis Nash on six songs, and bassist James Genus and drummer Billy Kilson on another four. Seventeen-year-old jazz guitar sensation Julian Lage, who is Eigsti’s close friend and collaborator, guests on several tracks.

”The music on this new album is about trying to create a continuous flow, while expressing many varied emotions,” Eigsti continues. “All the tracks are very different, but I feel a cohesive sound runs through the entire CD. It’s interesting, because the two groups are so distinctive, but they also blend so well with each other. Actually, the hardest part about this whole record was figuring out who to use on each song, because all the musicians bring so much to the table! Absolutely any tune on the record would have been fun to try with the other trio as well.”

Acclaimed for his wizardly technique, open attitude, and mature, intuitive style, Eigsti became devoted to the piano after the death of his sister, Shannon, a talented pianist who succumbed to cancer when he was just three. He began playing a year later, and at eight, he opened for his friend and mentor, jazz pianist David Benoit. At 12, Eigsti shared the stage with Diane Schuur and also opened for Diana Krall and Al Jarreau. When he was 13, he sat in with Brubeck, who commented, “Taylor is the most amazing talent I’ve come across. Remember him.” During his high school years in northern California, Eigsti worked with such respected jazz artists as Bobby Hutcherson, Red Holloway, and Kevin Mahogany. He also made his mark in the classical field, performing with singers Frederica von Stade and Sylvia McNair, as well as with numerous symphonies.

Eigsti’s previous album was Resonance, a 2003 release on Bop City Records with his working trio (John Shifflett on bass and Jason Lewis on drums). In addition to climbing to the top 5 in National Radio Airplay for several weeks, it received a 4-star review from DownBeat, which stated: “Eigsti is a jazz-piano whirlwind with a light touch, a fluid sense of improvisation and a gift for wrapping his creative flights in solid melodies.” The review went on to laud “the depth of his talent and the titanic possibilities of his career” and predicted that this “may be the sound of a future giant awakening.”

Already Eigsti has been the featured guest on a studio taping of Marian McPartland’s NPR program Piano Jazz and was the featured performer on a live recording with her at the 2004 Tanglewood Jazz Festival. He is managed by acclaimed jazz manager Mary Ann Topper, most notable for making stars of Diana Krall, Jane Monheit, and Joshua Redman, among others.

On his Concord premiere, Lucky to Be Me, Eigsti delivers a healthy slice of original music (four compositions), and brand-new takes on many well-known songs, from jazz standards to pop to the Great American Songbook. The arrangements that Taylor developed for the collection, he says, “have a framework and a structure, but everything else is general and open so the players can bring their talents to the table. For example, Billy Kilson and Lewis Nash have wonderful, different concepts on the drum kit, and what they come up with will always sound different. That’s the fun of playing with someone new.”

The Eigsti-McBride-Nash unit embodies the spirit of creative play on “Giant Steps,” the set opener, which features the pianist zipping into a lucid, jet-fueled solo, followed by one of equal velocity by McBride. “If you’ve got Lewis Nash, one of the world’s most swinging drummers, why not play a tune with him swinging?” Eigsti asks rhetorically. “Christian absolutely nailed those changes. His solo is one of my favorite instrumental solos ever, and I’m honored to have it on the record. Besides being incredibly fast, it’s amazing how much music he makes, how thoroughly he develops a statement.”

The joyful interplay and interaction between the musicians is evident in “Get Your Hopes Up” (an Eigsti original), which showcases the powerful unit of McBride and Nash, and the playful exchange of ideas between Eigsti and Lage. McBride and Nash next modulate seamlessly between funk and swing beats on “Love for Sale,” which Eigsti originally learned on a gig with Red Holloway.

Working with the Genus-Kilson rhythm team, which Eigsti describes as “one of the most colorful, tasteful, and unique rhythm sections I’ve ever worked with,” the pianist then unleashes his narrative imagination on “I’ve Seen It All,” Björk’s song from the 2000 movie Dancer in the Dark, in which she starred. “Björk is one of my favorite artists,” Eigsti says. “Her harmonies are so deep, and she sings with such passion. She’s like Wayne Shorter in that sometimes you love [the music] and don’t have to understand it. In the movie, her character is going blind, and the song, which is very somber, is about coming to terms with it.” Kilson presents a similar blend of finesse and extraordinary power on “Argument,” Eigsti’s musical take on the general slope of a typical “argument.” The tune is his personal favorite of the session.

The expressive and lilting ballad, “True Colors”, was co-written by the pianist and his friend, Lage. The duet between piano and guitar is reflective of the deep sensitivity of both musicians. These two young artists team together again on what was originally recorded as the theme song to The Sopranos (HBO), “Woke Up This Morning.” Eigsti says, “[Producer] Al Schmitt had an awesome idea to bring an element of funkiness to the album by recording this song. It’s a really fun tune to use as a vehicle for jamming, and the amazingly tight horn section really helps to complete this.”

A powerful and stately bass solo by McBride introduces “Promenade” (also known as the first movement of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition), on which Eigsti acknowledges his classical training over nuanced, spacious rhythm painting. “The original classical version is very regal, as though you’re marching down the halls of a museum, and I wanted to keep that same feeling of wonderment and awe. To use a terrible cliché, I didn’t want to ‘jazz it up,’ but rather keep in mind what the song means to me, and go with that in a new direction.” McBride uncorks another killer solo as an early interlude on Eigsti’s “Adventure 1,” a tune that simmers to the crisp pulse of Nash’s hi-hat cymbal that resolves into a dark little groove and climaxes with an impassioned piano solo by the leader.

The pianist’s treatment of the Jimmy Van Heusen standard “Darn That Dream” further testifies to his ability to channel primal emotions while telling a musical story, weaving a dark tale through Kilson’s responsive drumming and Genus’s adventurous bass lines, which also form a fast-moving foundation underneath Eigsti’s thunderous solo on Eddie Harris’s explosive jazz standard, “Freedom Jazz Dance.”

As for the title track, written by Leonard Bernstein, Eigsti says, “I usually end my shows with it as a ballad encore.” He pauses … then adds, “I’ve been through a lot of extreme emotions in my life … the highest and the lowest … and Lucky to Be Me reminds me that despite everything else, I have music … and that makes me an incredibly fortunate person.”

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Taylor Eigsti - Lucky to Be Me