| Crystal Taliefero | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1963 |
| Origin | Bourne, Massachusetts, USA |
| Genres | Rock music, rhythm and blues |
| Occupations | Musician |
| Instruments | Percussion, saxophone, harmonica, guitar |
| Years active | 1974 –present |
| Associated acts | Billy Joel, Billy Joel Band |
| Website | crystaltaliefero.com |
Crystal Taliefero (born 1963 in Bourne, Massachusetts) is an American multi-instrumentalist and vocalist. Since 1989 she has been a touring and recording member of the Billy Joel Band. She has plans to establish the Taliefero Music Foundation.
Contents |
Taliefero was 11 years old when she started performing at local rhythm and blues clubs in and around Northwest Indiana and metropolitan Chicago with the singing group, Black Mist (later renamed Magic Mist).[1] Taliefero attended William A. Wirt High School where she was a top athlete and graduated in 1981. She went on to study music at Indiana University. Taliefero is member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated.[2]
John Mellencamp discovered Taliefero performing in a college band called Kilo and convinced her to leave college in 1986 and join his touring band.[2] She was subsequently invited to join the Billy Joel Band in 1989 when Joel put together a new band to record and tour the album Storm Front. She has been with the Joel band ever since.
Aside from Mellencamp and Joel, Taliefero has performed with a wide range of singers, including Faith Hill, Garth Brooks, Joe Cocker, Tina Arena, Bob Seger, Brooks & Dunn, Richie Sambora, Elton John, Enrique Inglesias, Natalie Merchant, Meat Loaf, Michael McDonald and Bruce Springsteen.[1]
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".[3]
Instruments in Taliefero's percussion kit include agogô, bongo, cabasa, chimes, conga, cowbell, güiro, hand percussion, jam block, shaker, tambourine, timbales, triangle, whistle and wood block.[4] In addition, Taliefero is quite accomplished on the tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone, electric guitar, acoustic guitar and keyboards, and a vocalist in her own right.
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:[4]
In 1986, Taliefero suffered a ruptured appendix while touring with Bob Seger. She was hospitalized for several weeks.[5]
Taliefero's goal is to establish the Taliefero Music Foundation that will inspire and shape young upcoming lives in the world of live entertainment.[1] As part of her purpose to inspire young musicians, she visited Central High School in East Chicago, Indiana (her home state) in 2009.[6]
Taliefero was awarded the Indiana University African-American Arts Institute’s Herman C. Hudson Alumni Award.[7]