Mark Taylor Filmmusik profile picture

Mark Taylor Filmmusik

Original music for film, dance, theatre, new media

About Me

I edited my profile with Thomas Myspace Editor V4.4 (www.strikefile.com/myspace)
Composer/French Hornist Mark Taylor has written for Max Roach, the Ebony Brass Quintet pianist Larry Willis and was a member of Max Roach’s So What Brass Quintet.
Mark has also been commissioned to compose for theatre, dance, CD-ROM, placed two songs in the Dollface Productions independent feature film "The Girl" and completed the score for Camille Billops' documentary, "A String of Pearls". Mark’s most recent film projects have been “9/11 Fear In Silence” for JadeFilms and he recently completed music, sound design and audio post on “Zero Down O.A.C.” for Canadian filmmaker Aaron Moseson.
Mark Taylor is also one of a handful of talented performers carrying on the improvisational tradition pioneered by the great (french) hornist, Julius Watkins. Taylor's sound has been described as "rapturous" and "golden" (Coda Magazine); "as fluid and limpid as (the) flute, and as gnarly as (the) alto." (JazzTimes). His innovative style has won him recognition by such legendary artists as Max Roach, who said, "Mark Taylor is a virtuoso instrumentalist...there is no one dealing with the french horn or the music the way he is."
A native of Chattanooga, TN, Mark's broad musical background includes composing and arranging, performance and, most recently, sound design. Mark has performed and recorded with an array of modern giants including: Max Roach, McCoy Tyner, Abdullah Ibrahim, Muhal Richard Abrams, Lester Bowie, and Basie bandleader Grover Mitchell.
As a featured soloist with Henry Threadgill's Very Very Circus he toured throughout the United States, Europe and in Asia. As a member of George Schuller's post-modern big band, Orange Then Blue, Mark participated in a State Department tour of Turkey, Cyprus and Syria.
As leader of his own groups he has performed at the Tampere Jazz Happening in Tampere, Finland and at a number of clubs in New York City, including Birdland, the Zinc Bar and the Knitting Factory.

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 3/6/2008
Band Website: Under construction
Influences: Quincy Jones, Max Roach, Mark Isham, Ennio Morricone, Jon Brion, Terence Blanchard, Bernard Herrmann, Hans Zimmer, JJ Johnson, Gil Evans, Oliver Nelson...
Sounds Like: RECENT PROJECTS:

9/11 FEAR IN SILENCE: THE FORGOTTEN UNDERDOGS
(watch the trailer below)

A compelling documentary about Deaf and Hard of Hearing people who were the FIRST citizens to become shut out from outside communication and 'left in the dark,' and the LAST to receive access to critical information, or be delivered from danger on September 11, 2001.

The first part of the film takes the viewers on a personal journey into the lives of the World Trade Center survivors and witnesses which exposes unique individuals' testimonies and unveils their perspectives about the attacks on the World Trade Center. The second part of the film discloses issues and concerns about our quest for resolutions to the City and Government to improve equal access. Similarly, Mark’s score is dark, unsettling and abstract in the first part of the film and more tuneful and uplifting for the second, using a unique combination of sampled and real french horns to create a massed horn choir to layer over and under the electronic beds.

9/11 FEAR IN SILENCE: THE FORGOTTEN UNDERDOGS

Add to My Profile | More Videos

The Girl
Set in Paris and starring two of France's most exciting new actresses, THE GIRL is a spare, gorgeously realized modern film noir. The story follows the spiraling affair between the film's narrator - a beautiful painter (Agathe de la Boulaye) - and a nightclub singer who she calls The Girl (Claire Keim). While their passion for each other is consuming, a relationship from the past threatens to tear them apart. Mark and singer/lyricist Shannon Gibbons wrote 2 songs for the nightclub scenes in this film.

A String of Pearls
Camille Billops' thought-provoking documentary about the reduced life expectancy of Black men in America due to racism and, by extension, violence and how it affects the families of these men. Especially the sons. Mark worked very closely with Camille on an electronic score that ranged from ambient textures to circus-y craziness to faux-orchestral Russian bombast.
LATEST NEWS! A String of Pearls has been chosen to be part of the Toronto Film Festival!!

Once Upon A Curbed Dog
Filmmaker Tricia Nolan's original idea for the score for this black comedy about a young woman, her dog and the neighborhood they live in, was very "classical". However, working very closely with Mark during the scoring of the film, they developed a rhythm-driven, texturally rich score that supports Tricia's story quite well.

Role Reversal
Mike Reynold's short film, Role Reversal, is a black comedy about the changes in an urban couples relationship after an attempted mugging. Mark's moody ambient score was just the thing Mike wanted to set the tone for this piece. In Mike's words, "I think [the music] is wonderful and gives an immense boost to the effectiveness of the film...Again, I would like to thank you."

In All Her Spit And Fury
Mark's last foray into the world of music for dance was an electronic score for dancer/choreographer Claudia Vorwaller. The dance was created separately from the music and both Mark and Claudia were amazed at how similarly they'd paced and phrased their respective portions of this work.

Deep Shaft
SIMMONS GROUP (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) needed music for their trade video about the DEEP SHAFT water purification system. The music was upbeat and positive to highlight the project's contemporary answer to this problem.

Filmmakers, you should be on this list, too. Call me when you need original music to enhance your latest project. Mark Taylor Music specializes in scores for films, video and theatrical presentations.

We also do sound design for film and theatre. Take a listen!
Record Label: unsigned
Type of Label: None