Craig Taborn Recognized
Among this year’s recipients of the famed McArthur Foundation fellowship awards for “exceptional, creative, and inspiring people,” popularly known as “genius awards,” SEMJA was thrilled to see the name of pianist, keyboardist, and composer Craig Taborn. Minneapolis born and currently living in Brooklyn, Taborn’s professional musical roots lie very much in our area. He came to Ann Arbor to study English literature at the University of Michigan but quickly befriended drummer Gerald Cleaver and this led to playing jazz in Detroit at places such as Bert’s or Bakers’s Keyboard Lounge. Taborn worked with the top musicians in the city, including Marcus Belgrave and James Carter, but also became familiar with the Motown techno school, building on an early fascination with electronic sounds and blending different musical genres. He joined Carter’s first great touring quartet, with Griot Galaxy veterans bassist Jaribu Shahid and drummer Tani Tabbal, who would also appear on Craig Tayborn Trio in 1994, his first recording as a leader. Taborn has since developed his art in many directions, but we salute his well-deserved award, recognizing the Michigan phase of his journey.