Greg Ward & Jumaane Taylor
Greg Ward is a saxophonist and composer that was born in Peoria, IL.
Jumaane Taylor, a Chicago native, has been tap dancing since the age of seven and made his professional debut in 2001 with the tap company M.A.D.D. Rhythms.
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Greg Ward
Greg Ward is a saxophonist and composer that was born in Peoria, IL. Currently based in Chicago, Ward has had the opportunity to perform and record with a varied group of artists like Prefuse 73, Lupe Fiasco, Tortoise, William Parker, Makaya McCraven, Linda Oh, and Mike Reed. As a bandleader, Ward has produced 5 recordings including Fitted Shards: South Side Story, Phonic Juggernaut, Touch My Beloved’s Thought, Rogue Parade: Stomping Off From Greenwood, and Fitted Shards: High Alert. As a composer, he has also received commissions from the Jazz Gallery in NYC, the Chicago Jazz Institute, the City of Chicago’s Made In Chicago: World Class Jazz Series, Peoria Ballet Company, the Jazz Coalition, and the B’Town Jazz Festival. He has also been awarded the New Music USA Van Lier Fellowship in 2012 and DCASE IAP grants in 2017 and 2018. Ward maintains an active international touring schedule with various ensembles and has recently been appointed to the faculty of the Jacob School of Music at Indiana University as Assistant Professor of Jazz Saxophone.
Above photo of Greg Ward by Diana Quinones Rivera
Jumaane Taylor
Jumaane Taylor, a Chicago native, has been tap dancing since the age of seven and made his professional debut in 2001 with the tap company M.A.D.D. Rhythms. He has been part of the ensemble in Imagine Tap! (directed and choreographed by Derick Grant); Tap Into Peace(directed and choreographed by Sarah Savelli and Ayodele Casel); and Rasta Thomas' Tap Starsthat performed in Hamburg, Germany. In 2014, Jumaane created Supreme Love—a tap dance production honoring John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme and the art of tap—which premiered at music and dance festivals, including Jacob's Pillow in 2017.
Jumaane received a 2017 Chicago Dancemakers Forum Lab Artist Award and has performed his work for the Museum of Contemporary Art, Jazz Institute of Chicago, and abroad. He teaches in the Hubbard Street Youth Dance Program, Ruth Page Center for the Arts, Sammy Dyer School of the Theatre, and the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University.
Above right photo of Jumaane Taylor by Kristie Kahns
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