Wednesday, December 21st at 7PM
Taylor Haskins
Welcome to Piano by Nature’s second exciting concert selection of the year! This time, we will be celebrating the solstice in style, with father-son duo Taylor and Felix Haskins, experiencing their exuberant synthesis of two generations of incredible musical talent. Taylor and Felix will perform traditional secular seasonal music, as well as selections by Bach and original compositions by both gentlemen. As has been the tradition with Taylor’s ‘Solo Solstice’ concerts, a significant portion of the evening’s musical offerings will be fully improvised. PBN is beyond-thrilled to have Taylor back on our stage and doubly excited to hear the authentic and compelling musical dynamic that both of these formidable musicians will present. Please don’t forget to make your reservations early for this unique event, as there is only one concert, and our seating is limited. Can’t wait to see you there!
The Hand House parlor will open at 6:30PM, and we encourage attendees to arrive early to avoid lines at check-in. Tickets are $20 per person. Reservations are required and may be made through email at pianobynature@gmail.com or by phone at 518-962-8899. You may leave a message at either and seats will be obtained on a first-come-first-served basis. There will be no walk-ups available as our seating is limited.
PBN encourages the use of masks and sanitizer and will have both available at the concert.
PBN is also committed to serving our dedicated community, so when possible we will provide video recordings of the live concerts on our website throughout the season for those of you who choose to enjoy them at home. Thank you again for your generosity and continued support of our concerts and our fundraiser. We are very close to our goal thanks to you ALL! We look forward to seeing you very soon at the Hand House.
This concert and the artists were featured in the December 14, 2022 issue of Lake Champlain Weekly in an article entitled, “On the First Day of Light” by Benjamin Pomerance. Read in full here. Or click to enlarge images in the gallery.
About Taylor Haskins
Hailed by Downbeat magazine for his “adroit lyricism and gift for complex, imaginative composition,” composer, trumpeter, and synthesist Taylor Haskins is a musical artist who has distinguished himself as a leader of groundbreaking ensembles as well as a venturesome composer and producer of soundtracks for film and television. Taylor won a Grammy™ award with the Dave Holland Big Band (for Overtime in 2005), has played a vital role in Wilco guitarist Nels Cline’s Lovers orchestra, has been a member Guillermo Klein’s Los Guachos for over 20 years, and has inspired international audiences with the dynamic Richard Bona Group and many other world-class ensembles for decades.
His most recent albums include the hard-hitting progressive opus Interstellar Phoenix, the plaintive and evocative ambience of Solo Solstice, the jazz-electronica hybrid Gnosis and the disarmingly melodic The Point by a quintet called ‘Green Empire’, which features Haskins exclusively on the rare Steiner-Crumar analog EVI (electronic valve instrument). His five previous releases, dating back to 2003, are Fuzzy Logic (Sunnyside Records), Recombination, American Dream (Sunnyside Records), Metaview, and Wake Up Call (Fresh Sound Records).
For nearly 25 years, Taylor has composed and produced music for media of all types. From the late 1990’s into the early 2000’s he worked full-time as a composer for the cutting-edge electronic music production house tomandandy, composing music and sound design for films, national commercial campaigns, video games, and art installations. While at tomandandy Taylor also helped develop and field-test proprietary – and ultimately patented – music generation software that employs artificial intelligence-based algorithms.
Originally from the woods of New Hampshire, Haskins completed his Masters degree in music at the Manhattan School of Music in 1998, where he studied trumpet with Lew Soloff and composition with David Lalama. He then thrived as an active participant in the demanding New York City music scene for over 20 years.
Taylor now resides in the Champlain Valley region of New York’s Adirondack mountains where he works out of his production studio Recombination Labs and hosts a weekly radio program called “The Thread” Saturday evenings on NCPR. Learn more at www.taylorhaskins.com.
Please consider sending a donation to Piano by Nature to help us continue to support our artists and deliver exceptional live music to the North Country and beyond. You can mail a check to Piano by Nature, 32 Champlain Ave., Westport, NY 12993. Or donate online through the Donate button below (using your Paypal account or credit card). If you have questions or ideas, feel free to call Rose at 518.962.8899. I’d love to hear from you.
This project is made possible with funds from the Statewide Community Regrant program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered by the Adirondack Lakes Center for the Arts. Our concerts are also made possible, in part, by the Essex County Arts Council’s Cultural Assistance Program Grant with funding provided by Essex County. We are so grateful to both for their continued support.