ENDEIT
Billy Taylor
Photo: Tom Marcello Webster, New York, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Pianists · 1921–2010

Billy Taylor

American jazz pianist, composer, broadcaster, and educator (1921-2010)

Born
24 July 1921
Greenville
Died
28 December 2010
Manhattan
Country
United States
Active
1943–
Record labels
Atlantic Records
Discography
23 albums

Biography

Billy Taylor was a jazz musician who played piano. Billy Taylor was born on 24 July 1921 in Greenville and died on 28 December 2010 in Manhattan. The music is usually filed under jazz. Record labels: Atlantic Records. The discography here lists 23 albums, from “Cross Section” (1956) to “Love Songs” (2013). Honours include National Medal of Arts (1992), North Carolina Award for Fine Arts (1993) and honorary doctor of the University of Miami (1998).

Billy Taylor (July 24, 1921 – December 28, 2010) was an American jazz pianist, composer, broadcaster and educator. He was the Robert L. Jones Distinguished Professor of Music at East Carolina University in Greenville, and from 1994 was the artistic director for jazz at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. A jazz activist, Taylor sat on the Honorary Founders Board of The Jazz Foundation of America, an organisation he founded in 1989, with Ann Ruckert, Herb Storfer and Phoebe Jacobs, to save the homes and the lives of America's elderly jazz and blues musicians, later including musicians who survived Hurricane Katrina. Taylor was a jazz educator, who lectured in colleges, served on panels and travelled worldwide as a jazz ambassador. Critic Leonard Feather once said, "It is almost indisputable that Dr. Billy Taylor is the world's foremost spokesman for jazz."

Read the full article on Wikipedia ↗ · From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Discography

Studio and live albums

Cross Section 1956 · Prestige One for Fun 1959 · Atlantic Taylor made Jazz 1959 · Argo Interlude 1961 · Moodsville Impromptu 1962 · Mercury Records Right Here, Right Now! 1963 · Capitol Records I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free 1967 · Tower David Frost Presents OK Billy 1970 · Bell Records
Jazz Alive: The Billy Taylor Trio In Live Performance 1979 · Live · Monmouth Evergreen
Juicy Lucy 1979 · Bee Hive Records Live at Storyville 1979 · Live · West 54 Solo 1988 · Taylor Made Recordings Dr. T 1993 · GRP It's a Matter of Pride 1994 · GRP Homage 1995 · GRP Billy & Wes 1997 · Norma Ten Fingers, One Voice 1999 · Arkadia Jazz Billy Taylor With Four Flutes 2000 · Riverside Taylor Made At The Kennedy Center 2005 · Live · Kennedy Center Jazz Recordings Live at MCG 2007 · Live · Telarc
Love Songs 2013
Brazilian Beat
Introducing Ira Sullivan · ABC-Paramount

Also plays on

Albums where Billy Taylor is credited as a sideman

1956 This Is How I Feel About Jazz — Quincy Jones piano
1958 Stay With Me — Billie Holiday piano
1980 Once in Every Life — Johnny Hartman piano
1982 Europa Jazz — Howard McGhee, James Moody, Zoot Sims piano
1989 We Meet Again — Ramsey Lewis / Billy Taylor piano
1991 Jazz at Massey Hall, Volume 2 — Bud Powell piano
1991 Accent on Tenor Sax — Lucky Thompson piano
— Jazz/Tones — Coleman Hawkins piano

Standards written by Billy Taylor

TitleKeyFormGroove
I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free F major A · 16 Even eighths

Awards

Historic 78 rpm records

  • BLUE STEW BRICK FLEAGLE'S RHYTHMAKERS · Billy Taylor · "Half-Valve" · Brick… archive.org ↗
  • DEEP PURPLE MELVIN MOORE · Kai Winding · Warne Marsh · Billy Taylor · Jack… archive.org ↗
  • "IMPROVISATIONS IN ELLINGTONIA" PART I - LOW COTTON Rex Stewart · Barney Bigard · Django Reinhardt · Billy Taylor ·… archive.org ↗
  • "IMPROVISATIONS IN ELLINGTONIA" PART IV - I KNOW THAT YOU KNOW Rex Stewart · Barney Bigard · Django Reinhardt · Billy Taylor ·… archive.org ↗
  • "IMPROVISATIONS IN ELLINGTONIA" PART III - FINESSE Rex Stewart · Barney Bigard · Django Reinhardt · Billy Taylor ·… archive.org ↗
  • REXATIOUS REX STEWARTS ELLINGTONIANS · Rex Stewart · Lawrence Brown · Johnny… archive.org ↗
  • "IMPROVISATIONS IN ELLINGTONIA" PART II - MONTMARTRE Rex Stewart · Barney Bigard · Django Reinhardt · Billy Taylor ·… archive.org ↗
  • TOP AND BOTTOM DUKE ELLINGTON'S SEPTET · Cootie Williams · Barney Bigard · Johnny… archive.org ↗

Frequently asked questions

What instrument did Billy Taylor play?

Billy Taylor is known for playing piano.

When and where was Billy Taylor born?

Billy Taylor was born 24 July 1921 in Greenville.

What are Billy Taylor's best-known albums?

Albums in our database include Cross Section (1956), One for Fun (1959), Taylor made Jazz (1959), Interlude (1961) and Impromptu (1962).

External links

Data compiled from open sources; see the source links below. Spotted an error? Let us know.