J. Taylor Leach is a New York City–based musician and educator. Mostly self-taught until college, he began performing and teaching alongside his professors while earning degrees in Jazz Performance and Music Education from William Paterson University and Raritan Valley Community College. Shortly after, he began touring nationally.

Taylor has studied and/or performed with an extensive list of renowned and Grammy-winning artists, including Christian McBride, Bill Charlap, Steve Coleman, David Liebman, Vincent Herring, Harold Mabern, Bernie Worrell, and many others. He has shared concert bills with Philip Glass, John Zorn, Vijay Iyer, Randy Brecker, and Charles McPherson. He leads his own ensembles, works widely as a sideman, and has served as a drum tech for Tyshawn Sorey.