Album Notes

One of the few performers to tackle the notoriously difficult french horn in jazz and improvised music, Taylor's sound has been described as "rapturous" and "golden" (Coda Magazine); "as fluid and limpid as (the) flute, and as gnarly as (the) alto." (JazzTimes). His innovative style has won him recognition by such legendary artists as Max Roach, who said, "Mark Taylor is a virtuoso instrumentalist...there is no one dealing with the french horn or the music the way Mark is doing."

A native of Chattanooga, TN, Mark is currently based in New York City. His broad musical background includes performing, composing and arranging. Mark has performed and recorded with an array of modern giants including: Max Roach, McCoy Tyner, Abdullah Ibrahim, Muhal Richard Abrams and Lester Bowie. As a featured soloist with Henry Threadgill's Very Very Circus, he toured throughout the United States, Europe and in Asia. As a member of George Schuller's post-modern big band, Orange Then Blue, Mark participated in a State Department tour of Turkey, Cyprus and Syria. With Circle Squared he has performed at jazz festivals in Finland and Slovenia and at clubs in Austria, Germany and New York City, including Birdland, the Zinc Bar and the Knitting Factory.

In 1997, Mark released "QuietLand" his debut CD on Mapleshade Records. Containing eleven strikingly adventurous compositions (all by Taylor), this CD featured an all-star group including highly-acclaimed piano modernist Myra Melford and legendary bassist Fred Hopkins and laid the conceptual groundwork for the new quartet, Circle Squared.

"Taylor plays French horn boldly and lyrically..."
Bob Blumenthal, Atlantic Monthly

"One might think that the French horn is a strange instrument for jazz, but in the hands of Mark Taylor these thoughts were proved wrong. Taylor and his group had a wonderful common language, a fact that was emphasized in his brilliant solo..."
Marita Nyrhinen