TAYLOR EIGSTI – FULL BIO
“Eigsti exudes fearlessness and joy, secure in the belief that he can make music with anyone.” – Variety Magazine
GRAMMY® Award-winning pianist and composer Taylor Eigsti started playing the piano when he was four years old. Growing up in Menlo Park, CA, Eigsti was quickly labeled a prodigy, and has since released 8 albums as a bandleader, in addition to appearing on over 70 albums as a sideman. Eigsti recently won a 2022 GRAMMY® Award for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album for his most recent album “Tree Falls”, released in 2021 on GSI Records. In addition to this recent honor, Eigsti has garnered 3 individual GRAMMY® nominations over the years for his work as a recording artist and composer, including Best Instrumental Composition, and Best Jazz Instrumental Solo. Eigsti has also been featured on several other GRAMMY® nominated albums by Gretchen Parlato and Julian Lage, and co-wrote a featured composition with Don Cheadle for the GRAMMY® – winning soundtrack to the motion picture “Miles Ahead” (2017).
Over the past 30+ years, Eigsti has had the good fortune of performing, touring or recording with such luminaries as Dave Brubeck, Chris Botti, Joshua Redman, Sting, John Mayer, Esperanza Spalding, Chick Corea, Joshua Bell, Snarky Puppy, Vanessa Williams, David Benoit, Chris Potter, Nicholas Payton, Ben Wendel, Christian McBride, Julian Lage, Michael Nesmith, Marian McPartland, Stefon Harris, McCoy Tyner, Dianne Reeves, Vince Mendoza, Joey DeFrancesco, Red Holloway, James Moody, Lalah Hathaway, Ernestine Anderson, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Becca Stevens, Casey Abrams, Tarionna “Tank” Ball, Charles McPherson, The Clayton Brothers, Eldar, Dianne Schuur, Joe Lovano, Ambrose Akinmusire, Hank Jones, The Brubeck Brothers, Sachal Vasandani, Erin Bode, and Frederica Von Stade, among many others.
In addition to touring with his trio, quartet and larger ensembles, Eigsti is a regular touring member of Terence Blanchard’s E-Collective band featuring the Turtle Island Quartet, and frequently tours in a duo context with Rolling Stones’ long-time vocalist Ms. Lisa Fischer. Eigsti has been a long-time member of the regular touring bands of Gretchen Parlato, Ben Wendel, Kendrick Scott Oracle, Eric Harland Voyager, Chris Botti, and many others over the years.
Eigsti has had the honor to tour internationally for many years, having the opportunity to perform at many premiere venues throughout the world, including the Hollywood Bowl, Carnegie Hall, Salle Pleyel, Red Rocks Amphitheater, Royal Festival Hall, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Vienna Konzerthaus, Olympia Hall, Massey Hall, Lincoln Center, Davies Symphony Hall, and many top festivals including Montreal Jazz Festival, North Sea Jazz Festival, Singapore Mosaic Music Festival, Monterey Jazz Festival, Stockholm Jazz Festival, Istanbul Jazz Festival, Quito Jazz Festival, Jakarta Jazz Festival, Sydney Jazz Festival, Manilla Jazz Festival, Newport Jazz Festival, Chicago Jazz Festival, Toronto Jazz Festival, New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, and many more performances worldwide, including a private performance for former President Bill Clinton.
Eigsti has also been featured numerous times in various television specials, NPR appearances, commercials, and composed the theme music to the motion picture “Detachment” (2011) starring Oscar Award winner Adrien Brody, collaborating on the score with the Newton Brothers. In 2019, Eigsti was also featured on a television special with Chris Botti for PBS’s “Great Performances”, and was recently featured on the score to Spike Lee’s HBO 4-part DocuSeries “NYC Epicenters” (2021).
In addition to leading and performing with various small ensembles, Eigsti frequently has had the opportunity to work with, compose for and orchestrate music for various symphony orchestras, and has written an extensive repertoire of music for orchestra and jazz ensemble. Various soloist and compositional features include the San José Chamber Orchestra, Oakland Symphony, New York Philharmonic, New York Pops, LA Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Colorado Symphony, Buffalo Orchestra, Naples Philharmonic, Dallas Symphony, Portland Symphony, Nashville Symphony, Sacramento Philharmonic, Boston Youth Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, San Jose Youth Symphony, Golden State Youth Orchestra, Bear Valley Symphony, Tassajara Symphony, Reno Philharmonic and multiple featured collaborations with the Peninsula Symphony Orchestra.
In March 2022, Eigsti premiered “Imagine Our Future” in the Bay Area, which is a large – ensemble work commissioned by the Hewlett Foundation, featuring Lisa Fischer on vocals and a 12-person band, which compositionally “crowd-sources” over 100 submitted musical and multimedia ideas from a cross-section of youth from Northern California.
