Taylor Ho Bynum

Taylor Ho Bynum (born 1975) is a musician, composer, educator and writer. His main instrument is the cornet, but he also plays numerous similar instruments, including flugelhorn and trumpet.

Early life Bynum was born in Baltimore in 1975, and grew up in Boston. His parents were fans of music, and professional musicians were often in the family home.

Bynum began playing the trumpet at the age of ten, and played classical music in youth orchestras when at high school. Working in an ice cream shop meant that Bynum was able to organize weekly jazz concerts there. Continuing his interest in music, Bynum attended Wesleyan University, where he studied with a major influence on his future – Anthony Braxton – as well as with Pheeroan akLaff, Jay Hoggard, and others. His recording continued in 2001: on Trio Ex Nihilo with Curt Newton and Jeff Song, and with the Sound Visions Orchestra of Alan Silva. From 2007, Bynum has been part of The Convergence Quartet, with pianist Alexander Hawkins, bassist Dominic Lash, and drummer Harris Eisenstadt; they released their fourth album, Owl Jacket, in 2016. In 2007, Bynum co-founded the record label Firehouse 12, with engineer Nick Lloyd. The label's first release was Braxton's 9 Compositions (consisting of nine CDs and one DVD), and Bynum's The Middle Picture was next. In the same year, he recorded the quartet Searching for Adam. The Throes was also from 2011, and was co-led by Nate Wooley, with whom Bynum had played for two years. Bynum released Navigation around 2013; it consisted of four performances of a single piece, with two being released on LP and two on CD (all four were released for digital download, which was also available to purchasers of either physical release). In 2014, he undertook another "Acoustic Bicycle Tour" from Vancouver, Canada down the West Coast to Tijuana, Mexico, captured in a short documentary film by Chris Jonas. Book of Three was a trio album in 2014, and Enter the PlusTet two years later was performed by a 15-piece band.

In the area of education, Bynum has led jazz ensembles at Northeastern University, He has also written about music for The New Yorker magazine. He has also served as the executive director of Anthony Braxton's Tri-Centric Foundation since 2010, producing and performing on most of Braxton's recent major projects, including his Trillium operas and his Sonic Genomes. A further activity has been organizing music events, including the Sound Genome project in Vancouver in 2010 and a festival at the Roulette club in New York City the following year.

Composition and playing styles A reviewer of Next commented that Bynum "deploys a litany of buzzes, whistles, drones, pinched fanfares and garrulous brass muttering in acrobatic arcs that twist and somersault." The overlaps of composition and improvisation are explored by Bynum; a reviewer of Illegal Crowns and Enter the PlusTet observed that they "are equally imaginative and revolutionary in their own right, characterized by a dogged exploration of the ebb and flow between composition and spontaneity."

Discography An asterisk (*) indicates that the year is that of release.

As leader/co-leader