“Transformation” is the first studio album by bassist Tal Wilkenfeld, the young prodigy who rose to fame early in her youth, playing alongside legends such as Jeff Beck, Prince, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock and others. Soon after her international breakthrough, she assumed the role of a bandleader, backed by musicians such as Wayne Krantz, Keith Carlock, John Beasley and Vinnie Colaiuta. Her debut album was released independently on 14 May 2007. The tracks were recorded when she was 20 years old, having moved to the United States from her native Australia. On this record, Wilkenfeld offers seven intricate and original jazz fusion tracks with Wayne Krantz on guitar, Keith Carlock on drums, Geoffrey Keezer on Piano, and Seamus Blake on tenor sax. “Transformation” gained immediate attention, since everyone wanted to see the cute female bassist what she has to show as a composer. She showed everyone her best, demonstrating her groove-mastery, impeccable technique, but still with a perfect natural flow and fantastic interplay between her and the rest of the group.
Tal Wilkenfeld’s story is quite amazing. She began playing guitar when she was fourteen years old, dropping out of her high school in Sydney in 2002, saying that "it just wasn't going to, switching to electric bass within a year. Wilkenfeld graduated from Los Angeles Music Academy College of Music in 2004 and only after few months she gained an endorsement from Sadowsky Guitars and devoted herself to forming a band and composing songs of her own. In 2004, at age 18, she moved to New York City and began making a name for herself in New York's jazz clubs. "I was actually walking around to like several clubs every night till the sun came up, sitting in at jazz clubs just learning. I was really the only one that would go into these clubs with an electric bass, because these were like, you know, places that played exclusively bebop. So I got some funny looks for quite some time. But it was a priceless education." In 2006 while playing at a club in New York, Wilkenfeld was spotted by members of The Allman Brothers Band. As she recalls, "Oteil Burbridge heard me first, and then Derek Trucks heard me. And those two then just encouraged me to go on with them at the Beacon Theater." It was her first time on the big stage. "Oteil just handed me his bass at the beginning of "Elizabeth Reed" and literally just ran into the audience and was watching me in the audience, smiling." The jam lasted around 40 minutes and Wilkenfeld sent a recording of the performance to Jeff Beck when she auditioned for his band. In 2006, several months after performing as a guest with The Allman Brothers Band, Wilkenfeld recorded “Transformation” in just two days.
