Concord recording artist Taylor Eigsti has been playing the piano since age three, and opened for David Benoit at age eight. He has appeared onstage with countless respected artists, including Dave Brubeck, Diane Schuur and opera diva Frederica von Stade, and has performed for several luminaries, including former President Bill Clinton. Taylor has also served on the faculty of the Stanford Jazz Workshop since 1999 and has taught at the San Jose State Jazz Workshop, "Jazz Goes to College" for the past several years. Taylor is currently nominated for two Grammy awards, for Jazz Solo for Freedom Jazz Dance, and for Instrumental Composition for Argument. Congratulations, Taylor!

MuST:
How did you first become interested in music in general, and jazz music in particular?

Taylor:
I started listening to jazz when I was really young -- as I was growing up there was a lot of jazz always playing in my household and I liked the idea that it was pretty much being made up on the spot. I liked the groove of the music and the fact that it was energetic and fun and I could bounce around to it. Classical music, though, I was never into when I was real young -- I thought it was too stiff and boring. I swore to never play Classical music. When I started playing piano someone asked me if I could play this Beethoven piece, and I can remember saying, "I don't do dead guys!"

MuST:
How did you get asked to open for David Benoit at age eight?

Taylor:
I became a David Benoit fan when I was about 6 and I loved the energy and funkiness of his music. It's so much more musical and aesthetically interesting than most of the other music in his genre. I started taking lessons when I was 4, and when I was 8, I had learned to poke out enough of his music on the piano that the school of music where I took lessons helped me to be able to open for him, because they knew what a big fan of his I was. And luckily that was the start of a great friendship; I've had the pleasure of playing with him many different times in various settings since then and he has helped me immensely and been a real mentor to me. We did one concert called "3 Generations of Jazz Piano" with David, myself, and Dave Brubeck, which was awesome.

MuST:
What was it like performing for President Clinton? Did he sit in on sax?

Taylor:
Playing for Clinton was amazing -- seeing him in real life is like a cartoon character or some fictional character you've only seen on TV or heard about coming to life -- it was weird to fathom that he was actually a real person. He stood behind me while I played two songs for him, and he was kind of talking to me -- which was cool but also immensely distracting! I kind of just wanted to say "Hold on a sec Bill, let me finish the song here!" And he said that he wished that he had his sax so that he could join in, but he didn't have it with him. But it was still great, and he chatted with me for about 5 or 10 minutes afterwards. Definitely one of the coolest moments of my career.

MuST:
Has it been difficult balancing your schoolwork with performing?

Taylor:
Bigtime. That has always been one of the biggest challenges for me, and especially now in college. I'm actually taking next semester off (I'm still going to live in Los Angeles) to just concentrate on performing, composing, and practicing, all of which I wish I had a lot more time to do. I'm not the type of guy that could lock myself up in a practice room all day -- I need time to play football with friends & get my skills up on Xbox.

MuST:
As a teacher of music, what is some of the most important advice you have for young musicians?

Taylor:
I have always said that people should listen to music that they hate. That's the only way to get new ideas. You have to stretch yourself -- stretch your ears, and by attacking that challenge then you can really hear something differently and have a new perspective on music in general. Keep listening until you hear something you like. Be it rap, opera, classical, jazz, anything.

MuST:
Any tips for aspiring musicians on how to get motivated to practice or rehearse?

Taylor:
Listen to someone play who's much better than you. That's what I do, and it usually makes me want to quit for a few minutes! But then I give it a second thought and say "Nah, I'll just try to be that good too," and it really motivates me to try to improve the areas of my playing that need it the most. When we're practicing, it does no good to just work on the things we're already good at. I try to attack my weak spots first and then go on to the fun stuff that I'm better at.