"The defining moment of Jazz Port Townsend was perhaps the one that was not planned.

On the last day of the jazz festival, a few hours before clouds and a sudden chill set in, a young woman in a floral print dress and white sandals, her toenails painted bright green, stepped onto the big stage with her acoustic bass.

Behind her was the festival big band, before her an audience of more than 1,200 who had never before heard of Kate Davis.

Plucked from one of the week's many student workshops, Davis, 17, a senior-to-be at West Linn High School in Oregon, sang "Sometimes I'm Happy." The arrangement was spare but perfectly balanced and suited to her talents. The song ended and the audience roared.

The professionals on the sideline mostly agreed: She could be a star someday. Davis was added extemporaneously by artistic director John Clayton after he heard her play the song in a class."

...read the complete review at SeattleTimes.com.

Judith Schlesinger has a fascinating interview with Eigsti over at All About Jazz that explores his musical development. Read the whole thing.

My favorite part of the interview is Taylor's own take on the double-edged nature of being labled as a 'prodigy.'

"At first, being labelled a prodigy—or someone who's young and can play really well—is something that can get people to pay attention to your music, obviously. Sometimes people take a little extra notice because they're like, "Hey, what in the world is this?" I've also been in lots of incredible performance situations younger than people getting a later start might have been.

But being 20 [in 2004], I'm at the other side of that sword. What I'm experiencing now is that "youth" and prodigy" are really dangerous words when you get older. You get to an age where you feel like saying, "Like my music or hate it, but listen to the notes I'm playing." When people call you "good for your age" it's just a filter: when those people hear my music, it's like they're looking at a bearded lady--- Taylor the bearded lady! (laughs) They're in it for the novelty, and not for the actual music itself. So being labelled a prodigy poses an immense difficulty in getting people to take your music seriously.

That's where I am right now. I'm trying to create my own new statement in jazz—not doing that "impressing people" kind of thing..."

Taylor opens the show Friday night (with a killer band), followed by Wycliffe Gordon and a New Orleans dance. Purchase tickets and choose seats online.