Will Taylor (born 30 November 1968) is a

violist ; german: Bratsche , alt=Viola shown from the front and the side , image=Bratsche.jpg , caption= , background=string , hornbostel_sachs=321.322-71 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded by a bow , range= , related= *Violin family ...

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

ist,

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

music producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

and

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...

and from

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. He is the founder of the groups Will Taylor & Strings Attached and The Jazz Menagerie.

Early life

Taylor graduated from Austin High School. He then attended the Sarah and Ernest Butler School of Music at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

Career

Taylor is one of few viola players in

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

. He began his career playing

jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and jazz improvisation, improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, ...

in clubs on 6th Street in Austin, Texas during his college years. After that, he worked with

Eddie Harris Eddie Harris (October 20, 1934 – November 5, 1996) was an American jazz musician, best known for playing tenor saxophone and for introducing the electrically amplified saxophone. He was also fluent on the electric piano and organ. His best-k ...

and the

Turtle Island Quartet The Turtle Island Quartet is a string quartet that plays hybrids of jazz, classical, and rock music. The group was formed in 1985 by David Balakrishnan, Darol Anger, and Mark Summer in San Francisco. They released their first album on Windham H ...

. Additionally, he has spent 23 years playing with the

Austin Lyric Opera Austin Opera, formerly known as the Austin Lyric Opera, is an opera company based in Austin, Texas. The company was founded in 1986. Its key personnel include Annie Burridge as general director, and Timothy Myers as artistic advisor. In January 200 ...

. He also spent time doing solo work, releasing three albums: ''Reel Life'' (1993, Amazing), ''Simple Gifts'' (1995, Igmod), and ''Live from Austin'' (1996, Cymekob, Inc.) The three albums received airtime on

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...

stations.

Will Taylor and Strings Attached

In 1999, Taylor began collaborating extensively with other Austin artists. Most of the collaborations were jazz, although some were considered more

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' (G ...

. He began collaborating regularly with different artists, but often bringing in the same people. These people eventually formed under the band name Will Taylor & Strings Attached. The band currently includes: *Will Taylor (viola) *Steve Zirkel (bass and muted trumpet) *Jason McKenzie (percussion) *Shawn Sanders (cello) *Glenn Rexach (guitar) The group has collaborated with artists such as Eliza Gilkyson,

Slaid Cleaves Slaid Cleaves is an American singer-songwriter born in Washington, D.C. and raised in South Berwick, Maine and Round Pond, Maine, United States. An alumnus of Tufts University, where he majored in English and philosophy, Cleaves lives in Aust ...

, Shawn Colvin, Ian Moore, and

Pearl Jam Pearl Jam is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. The band's lineup consists of founding members Jeff Ament (bass guitar), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar), Mike McCready (lead guitar), and Eddie Vedder (lead vocals, guita ...

Discography

Solo work

*''Reel Life'' (1993, Amazing) *''Simple Gifts'' (1995, Igmod) *''Live from Austin'' (1996, Cymekob, Inc.)

Will Taylor and Strings Attached

*''Will Taylor and Strings Attached'' (2000) *''A Bride's Collection of Traditional Classical Wedding Music'' (2006) *''Collaborations'' (2005, Heart) *''A Christmas Collection from Will Taylor and Strings Attached'' (2007) *''A Live Tribute to Led Zeppelin'' (2007) *''All Beatles Covers Live, Vol. 1'' (2007) *''Back to the Garden: A Tribute to Joni Mitchell'' (2007) *''All Beatles Covers, Vol. 2'' (2007) *''Songs of Leonard Cohen: Live'' (2008) *''Acoustic Rubber Soul - Songs of the Beatles'' (2009)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Will Living people American jazz violists Musicians from Austin, Texas University of Texas at Austin College of Fine Arts alumni 1968 births Jazz musicians from Texas