Billy Taylor: Jazz Pioneer and Educator
Billy Taylor (July 24, 1921 – December 28, 2010) was an American jazz pianist, composer, broadcaster and educator. From 1994, he served as artistic director for jazz at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., and was the Robert L. Jones Distinguished Professor of Music at East Carolina University.
Early Life and Education
Taylor was born in Greenville, North Carolina, but moved to Washington, D.C., at age five. He grew up in a musical family and learned guitar, drums, and saxophone as a child, though he proved most gifted at piano. His classical piano teacher was Henry Grant, who had previously taught Duke Ellington. Taylor made his first professional appearance at thirteen, playing keyboard for one dollar.
He attended Dunbar High School, the first high school for African American students in the United States. At Virginia State College, he initially majored in sociology and joined Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity. Pianist Undine Smith Moore recognized his talent and encouraged him to change his major to music. He graduated with a music degree in 1942.
Career and Achievements
Taylor moved to New York City after graduation and began playing professionally in 1944 with Ben Webster’s Quartet on 52nd Street. On the same night he joined Webster, he met Art Tatum, who became his mentor. He performed with Machito’s mambo band, developing a passion for Latin music, and toured Europe for eight months with the Don Redman Orchestra, staying afterward in Paris and the Netherlands with his wife, Theodora.
Returning to New York, Taylor worked with Bob Wyatt and Sylvia Syms at the Royal Roost jazz club and performed with Billie Holiday in the show Holiday on Broadway. He became house pianist at Birdland, where he played longer than any other pianist in the club’s history, performing alongside Charlie Parker, J.J. Johnson, Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie, and Miles Davis. In 1949, he published his first book, a textbook on bebop piano styles.
In 1952, Taylor composed “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free,” which gained prominence during the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Nina Simone recorded the song on her 1967 album Silk & Soul. The tune became known in the UK as a piano instrumental used for BBC Television’s long-running Film… programme. He recorded extensively during the 1950s and 1960s, including albums with Cuban percussionist Candido Camero.
In 1958, Taylor became music director of NBC’s The Subject Is Jazz, the first television series dedicated to jazz. The 13-part series featured guests including Duke Ellington, Aaron Copland, Bill Evans, Cannonball Adderley, Jimmy Rushing, and Langston Hughes. During the 1960s, he worked as a DJ and programme director at radio station WLIB in New York and led the Billy Taylor Trio as a regular feature at the Hickory House on West 55th Street in Manhattan. From 1969 to 1972, he served as music director for The David Frost Show and was the first African American to lead a talk-show band.
In 1964, Taylor established Jazzmobile in New York City to promote jazz through educational programmes. He hosted two long-running jazz programs on National Public Radio: Jazz Alive! from 1977 to 1983, and Billy Taylor’s Jazz at the Kennedy Center from 1995 to 2001. Jazz Alive! won the Peabody Award.
Notable Events and Milestones
In 1981, after being profiled by CBS News Sunday Morning, Taylor was hired as an on-air correspondent and conducted more than 250 interviews with musicians, receiving an Emmy Award for his segment on Quincy Jones. That same year, Jazzmobile produced a jazz special for National Public Radio that won the Peabody Award for Excellence in Broadcasting Programs.
In 1989, Taylor founded The Jazz Foundation of America with Ann Ruckert, Herb Storfer, and Phoebe Jacobs to save the homes and lives of America’s elderly jazz and blues musicians, later extending support to musicians affected by Hurricane Katrina. He also established his own “Taylor Made” record label that year to document his music. In 1997, he received the New York State Governor’s Art Award.
A 2002 stroke affected Taylor’s right hand, but he continued performing nearly until his death. He died from a heart attack on December 28, 2010, in Manhattan at age 89. A memorial service was held in Harlem on January 11, 2011, featuring his final working trio and longtime associates.
Awards and Honors
Taylor received the Peabody Award for Jazz Alive! and another Peabody Award in 1981 for Jazzmobile’s National Public Radio jazz special. He won an Emmy Award for his CBS News Sunday Morning segment on Quincy Jones. In 1997, he received the New York State Governor’s Art Award. Critic Leonard Feather stated, “It is almost indisputable that Dr. Billy Taylor is the world’s foremost spokesman for jazz.”
Additional Resources
Billy Taylor’s contributions to jazz education, broadcasting, and advocacy remain documented in extensive biographical archives and jazz history collections. Readers seeking deeper information about his recordings, his work at the Kennedy Center, and his role in preserving jazz heritage can find additional details through Wikipedia and other jazz historical resources.
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