I Understand, But Then There’s Tal Wilkenfeld

Tal Wilkenfeld is an Australian girl who was born in 1986.

She dropped out of high school when she was sixteen, thinking, “It just wasn’t going to work for me.”

She came to America and settled in New York.

Her Wikipedia page [yes, she has a Wikipedia page] outlines some of this high school drop-out’s life since coming to New York.

Here are highlights:

In 2006, Wilkenfeld performed as a guest with the Allman Brothers Band, and recorded her debut solo album, Transformation, which was recorded over a period of two days when she was just 20 years old. Wilkenfeld composed, produced, arranged, and played bass on seven intricate tunes with Wayne Krantz, Geoffrey Keezer, saxophonist Seamus Blake, and Keith Carlock. Transformation has been released in Australia and Japan, in addition to the United States and Australia, and remains a steady import in other territories.

Aware that Chick Corea was seeking a bass player for an upcoming tour, Wilkenfeld sent him demos of Transformation. She was elated to be selected to accompany him on his Australian tour early 2007, along with Frank Gambale and Antonio Sanchez. A few months later she joined up with Jeff Beck, Vinnie Colaiuta, and Jason Rebello for Beck's summer European tour. After returning from Europe, the group completed their tour at Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival in Chicago, Illinois, performing to a sell-out crowd of approximately 40,000. By November 2007, Wilkenfeld rejoined Beck's band for a week of gigs at Ronnie Scott's jazz club in London, where the band was joined on stage by Eric Clapton and Joss Stone. ... On the same trip to England, Wilkenfeld joined Herbie Hancock on a session with fellow jazz icon Wayne Shorter, which was filmed for the A&E series Live from Abbey Road. Singer Corinne Bailey Rae, and drummer Vinnie Colaiuta were also featured on this session. Wilkenfeld wrapped up 2007 via a pair of standing-room-only Greenwich Village gigs with Wayne Krantz.

In 2008, Wilkenfeld accompanied Krantz on gigs in Los Angeles, and then embarked on a tour of Australia in the fall of 2008, with Wayne and Keith Carlock-a reunion of the core band who appeared on "Transformation." At the conclusion of the tour, Wayne and Keith, along with John Beasley, backed Wilkenfeld during her headlining set for Bass Player Live 2008 in Los Angeles. Elsewhere in July 2008, Wilkenfeld accompanied Jeff Beck at the Grammy's Tribute to George Martin concert in Los Angeles. She also appeared at Warren Haynes's 20th Annual Christmas Jam, reuniting with the Allman Brothers Band, and also guesting with Gov't Mule, Ivan Neville, and Robben Ford.

2009 started off with a tour of Australia and Japan with Jeff Beck, and weeks later, a tour of the United States, which began with a performance at Beck's 2009 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. There, they played "Beck's Bolero", and were joined by Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page on "Immigrant Song." In the few weeks break between touring Japan and America, she appeared as the very first special guest to sit in with The Roots on the Jimmy Fallon show.

Wilkenfeld has also performed with such notable musicians as Hiram Bullock, Susan Tedeschi, Rod Stewart, John Mayer, Ron Holloway, and Prince.

from Tal Wilkenfeld’s Wikipedia page

Here is a YouTube clip of Tal Wilkenfeld performing with Jeff Beck, a very cool guitarist, born circa 1944.

Tal Wilkenfeld at MySpace