Teacher Profile: Jake Taylor
About Jake Taylor
Jake Taylor is a musician and music expert living in Seattle, WA, and hailing from Richmond, VA: an under-appreciated beacon of the Jazz, Hip-Hop, Mathrock, and Hardcore/Metal scenes of the east coast. The direct proximity to and prevalence of such vastly differing styles of musical influence embedded within the city's active and lively music scenes led him to build his musicianship from a multi-instrumental, multi-genre background.
Jake's parents are both lifelong professional musicians/singers/actors, so he was encouraged to start taking traditional piano lessons at the age of 8, but his naturally gifted ear led him to start picking up saxophone, guitar, and bass by the age of 12. Alto saxophone was his main course of study throughout his middle school and high school careers. After auditioning and being accepted, he attended the premiere performing arts high school in the state of Virginia - Thomas Dale High School, learning the details of professional concert performance and advanced music theory. He maintained first chair alto sax in both Wind Ensemble and Jazz Band throughout his time there, simultaneously honing his guitar and bass playing through private lessons and gigs with his bands outside of school.
Jake then attended James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA, where his major focus shifted to environmental/geographic science, but he also continued his musical journey studying audio engineering and production under the direction of Dr. David Cottrell, Tom Carr, and Joseph "Ojo" Taylor. It was here that he learned the nuance of live and studio recording and sound design which allowed him to manipulating sounds through all of his instruments of choice!
Jake has been performing live as a solo artist/producer, and in many bands in both recital hall and club/venue settings since the age of 14 and has extensive knowledge and experience with live and studio sound reinforcement and devices, production, composition, and audio engineering, on top of his never-ending fervor to create interesting and beautiful sounds through his instruments.
His credits as an instrumentalist are vast, but most notably as a guitar player, his credits range from studio recordings with Folk/Americana artist Hannah Buckley; worship music with Pastor Norman Ramsey; jazz reworks of classic and more obscure Christmas tunes with his brothers Sam and Ben and his father Butch Taylor (former keyboardist of Dave Matthews Band); to his contributions as a guitarist/producer in Dr. Reginald Chapman's outfit - Pressure Fit; and his own solo/collaborative instrumental Hip-Hop projects with many of his fellow members of the East coast based music collective - Satellite Syndicate.
Guitar remains the main driver of his creativity through songwriting and score composition, and he has taught guitar to all ages, ranging from 7 - 30 year olds, both in beginner and intermediate groups. His continued areas of study and expertise lie in ear training, improvisation, and production, and his overarching background in Jazz, Hip-Hop, Blues, Rock, Funk, Soul, and Ambient music showcase the versatility of his abilities as a musician and student of music, but also as a valuable teacher with a broad outlook on music.
As an educator, he emphasizes patience, compassion, and the concept of the individual approach to each and every instrument and piece of music. Just as everyone has a voice, they also have a language and a unique way to contribute to a musical conversation through their instrument. Jake understands and encourages the equal importance of both traditional techniques through music theory and performance, but also the individualist perspective and learning to speak one's truth while listening and conversing with others in an ensemble or band setting. Through the individual student's eyes and ears and voice and approach, that is where the truly beautiful and special art/artist emerges!