Jon Taylor is a Detroit-based drummer, improviser, composer, and educator. A tireless collaborator, he co-leads a number of original projects around town. He has performed alongside such luminaries of creative music as Wadada Leo Smith, Dave Liebman, Karl Berger, and Michael Formanek, and is a founding member of Polyfold, a musical arts collective. His compositions have been described as “A balance between form and freedom” and “music for the head and heart” (All About Jazz). His trio, featuring master bassist Jaribu Shahid and pianist Michael Malis, explores the stunning breadth of American music with original compositions influenced by everything from the tight-knit arrangements of Ahmad Jamal to the polyrhythmic trances of Steve Coleman to the spontaneous power of the Art Ensemble of Chicago.
Jon earned a BFA in Jazz and Contemplative Studies from the University of Michigan, where he studied improvisation with Geri Allen and Ed Sarath, composition with Andrew Bishop and Evan Chambers, and performance with Sean Dobbins, Ellen Rowe, and Michael Gould.