Composer, educator and drummer Chad Taylor will take over as the fourth leader of Pitt’s Jazz Studies Program this fall.
Taylor will be the second person to hold the William S. Dietrich II Endowed Chair in Jazz Studies and will serve as artistic director of the Jazz Studies Program. He succeeds Nicole Mitchell, who left Pitt in 2022 for a position at the University of Virginia.
In this role, Taylor will lead the jazz program’s public programming and community outreach efforts, including the annual Jazz Seminar and Concert week; teach courses on jazz performance and scholarship; and work with other faculty to develop long-term visions for the jazz studies undergraduate and graduate programs.
“Chad’s artistic leadership combined with a career of providing support to other musicians from behind the drum set brings the fantastic promise of both innovation and collaboration from our new colleague,” said Associate Professor Aaron J. Johnson, who has been serving as the interim director of the Jazz Studies Program
The position is being reconceived slightly to allow Taylor to focus more completely on artistic directorship and community outreach, rather than also balancing full oversight of the graduate program. In this role, he will work closely with Johnson.
Taylor has been a prominent figure in the Chicago, Philadelphia and New York jazz communities. He arrives at Pitt with an international performance career that includes appearances on more than 130 recordings with ensembles led by Fred Anderson, Pharoah Sanders, Marc Ribot, Eric Revis, James Brandon Lewis, Dave Liebman, Nicole Mitchell, Matana Roberts and Ken Vandermark among many others. He is a founding member of the Chicago Underground (with Jeff Parker and Rob Mazurek), and his recent projects include performing with Joshua Abrams as the duo Mind Maintenance.
Taylor holds an MFA in jazz history and research from Rutgers University, Newark and a BFA from New York’s New School of Jazz. He has taught extensively on jazz topics at Rutgers and Berkeley College in New York.
“This is a unique opportunity for me to share my passion for research and scholarship with my love of performance and give back to the community,” Taylor said.
The jazz program was started in 1969 by Nathan Davis, who served as its director until 2013. He was followed by Geri Allen (2014-2017) and Nicole Mitchell (2019-2022).
— Nick France (Pittwire)