Jeff Taylor

Jeff Taylor (born Jeffrey Joseph Taylor, February, 1957), is a Nashville-based bandleader and multi-instrumentalist, primarily known for keyboards and accordion. He is a long-time member of the Grammy-winning Western swing band, The Time Jumpers. As a bandleader, he conducted hundreds of shows at Nashville's Opryland USA and the General Jackson riverboat. and backed up many artists performing on the Grand Ole Opry. As a session musician, he has recorded with Paul Simon, Harry Connick Jr., Elvis Costello, George Strait, and Vince Gill. He was a featured artist on Ricky Skaggs' album, Instrumentals, winning a Grammy in 2007 for Best Bluegrass Album. He was musical director for the live stage production Always, Patsy Cline in its two-year run at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium. Early life He grew up in western New York, in Batavia, located between Buffalo and Rochester. His family was musically inclined; his father was a trumpet player who led a five-piece polka band called the "Variety Kings". His brother played drums. Taylor was given an accordion at age 5 and, by age 10, was performing in his father's band. In his teens, he became interested in piano and guitar, and traded his accordion at age 18 for a Gibson ES-335 electric guitar, later quipping, "It was easier to meet girls with a guitar than with an accordion". By then, he had become proficient on trumpet, fiddle, bass, guitar, trombone, and performed in a number of different bands. He studied classical piano the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, then served in the Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio in the early 1980s. He was a member of the Air Force group, "Band of Flight", and led a jazz group. After leaving the Air Force, he worked in Dayton, Ohio, assembling bicycles and grills for stores like Kmart. In an interview, he said, "If somebody still has a bike or gas grill from the '80's, I may have put it together." In 1990, he moved to Nashville to pursue a music career. Career