Crystal Taliefero | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Taliefero performing in May 2007 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Bourne, Massachusetts, US |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instrument(s) |
|
| Years active | 1974–present |
| Website | crystaltaliefero |
Crystal Taliefero-Pratt (née Taliefero) is an American multi-instrumentalist and vocalist. Taliefero grew up with a musical family, performing rhythm and blues with her brother in the Chicago metropolitan area. During her college years she was discovered by John Mellencamp, who helped guide her to a career as a professional musician. Taliefero performed with several artists throughout the 1980s and 1990s. In 1989 she was hired as a studio musician for the Billy Joel Band, and she has been touring and recording with them ever since.
Born in Bourne, Massachusetts,[1] Taliefero spent most of her childhood in Hammond, Indiana.[2] By the age of 11 she had begun performing rhythm and blues around Hammond[3] and nearby Gary, Indiana, where her family moved two years later.[2] She joined her brother Charles in the singing group Black Mist (later renamed Magic Mist),[4] who performed in the Chicago area.[5]
Taliefero attended William A. Wirt High School[6] where she was a top athlete and graduated in 1981.[5] She studied music at Indiana University, eventually making the dean's list.[7][8] There, Taliefero was part of the Indiana University Soul Revue, Dr. James Mumford tutoring her.[9] She was a member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority.[5]
In college Taliefero performed in a band called Kilo, which included other now-notable artists such as Saturday Night Live drummer Shawn Pelton, former Tonight Show bassist Robert Hurst, and trumpeter Chris Botti.[10] John Mellencamp's drummer Kenny Aronoff often sat in on drums, and in 1986 after hearing the first song of a live performance, Mellencamp invited Taliefero to join his touring band.[2][10] In a Spring 2011 interview, Taliefero credited her experience with Mellencamp as the fundamental training that "changed the whole course of [her] life".[2] In 1989, Mellencamp took time off as a musician to focus on painting. When asked, he lent Taliefero $3000, and with that she headed to New York City to pursue more musical opportunities.[2]
Two and a half months into living in New York, Taliefero received a phone call from a Mellencamp associate, asking her to play drums and sing for 1989's Storm Front, the upcoming album from Billy Joel.[2] After a successful audition, she was invited to join the Billy Joel Band, who she has been with ever since.[11] With time, Taliefero claimed the role as background vocal arranger, which she is credited with on 1993's River of Dreams.[2]
In 1991 Taliefero accompanied Bee Gees in their tour. A show in Europe needed an opening act, and they asked if she could perform some of her own material. She then formed a one-off band called Bonzai for the opening show which featured Pat Peterson, a Mellencamp backup singer, backed by the Bee Gees band.[2]
1992 saw Taliefero taking a lead role in Bruce Springsteen's extensive 107-date world tour, ending in June 1993.[12] The tour landed Taliefero a number of press hits. The New York Times music critic Jon Pareles described Taliefero as a "sassy female foil",[13] while Edna Gundersen of USA Today praised her performance alongside Springsteen. Taliefero's collaboration with Springsteen also includes a 1992 MTV Unplugged documentary performance.[2] However, Gary Graff, writing in the Detroit Free Press, lamented that Taliefero only played saxophone on "Born to Run" and missed longtime E Street Band saxophonist Clarence Clemons, who was not invited on the tour.[14]
Taliefero has performed with a wide range of other artists, including Faith Hill, Garth Brooks, Joe Cocker, Tina Arena, Bob Seger, Brooks & Dunn, Richie Sambora, Elton John, Enrique Iglesias, Natalie Merchant, Meat Loaf, and Michael McDonald.[15]
Taliefero's credits as a musician are chiefly as a vocalist and percussionist.[16] Instruments in her percussion kit include bongos, cabasa, mark tree, congas, cowbell, güiro, hand percussion, jam block, shaker, tambourine, timbales, triangle, Djembe, and wood block.[15] In addition, Taliefero is also quite accomplished on the guitar, keyboards, harmonica and saxophone, among other wind instruments.[16] She is known for her energetic stage performances.[10]
In its 2008 article "The 125-Plus People, Places and Things Ruling the Rock & Roll Universe", Rolling Stone magazine declared Taliefero the "Best Secret Weapon".[17]
In 1986, Taliefero suffered a ruptured appendix while touring with Bob Seger. She was hospitalized for several weeks.[18]
Taliefero's goal is to establish the Taliefero Music Foundation that will inspire and shape young upcoming lives in the world of live entertainment.[5] As part of her purpose to inspire young musicians, she visited Central High School in East Chicago, Indiana (her home state), in 2009.[19]
Taliefero was awarded the Indiana University African-American Arts Institute's Herman C. Hudson Alumni Award on April 19, 2011.[20] In a congratulatory statement, Billy Joel noted that some of his songs would not have been written without her inspiration.[3]
Taliefero has contributed narration, compositions and/or music to a range of child-oriented videos and audiobooks though the Weston Woods Studios division of Scholastic Corporation:[15]
