Billy Taylor facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Billy Taylor |
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Taylor in 2000
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Billy Taylor |
| Born | July 24, 1921 Greenville, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Died | December 28, 2010 (aged 89) New York City, U.S. |
| Genres | Jazz, hard bop |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, composer, educator, broadcaster |
| Instruments | Piano |
| Years active | 1944–2010 |
| Associated acts | Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Herbie Mann, Christian McBride, Nancy Wilson, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Cyrus Chestnut |
Billy Taylor (born July 24, 1921 – died December 28, 2010) was an amazing American jazz pianist, composer, and teacher. He was also a famous broadcaster who shared his love for jazz with many people. He taught music at East Carolina University and was the artistic director for jazz at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.
Billy Taylor was a true champion for jazz music. He helped start The Jazz Foundation of America in 1989. This group helps older jazz and blues musicians who need support. He also traveled the world as a jazz ambassador, sharing his knowledge. A famous critic once called him "the world's foremost spokesman for jazz."
Contents
Billy Taylor's Life Story
Growing Up and Starting Out
Billy Taylor was born in Greenville, North Carolina, in the United States. When he was five, his family moved to Washington, D.C.. He grew up in a very musical family. As a child, he learned to play many instruments like the guitar, drums, and saxophone. But he was best at the piano. He took classical piano lessons from Henry Grant, who had also taught the famous Duke Ellington. Billy Taylor played his first professional piano show when he was just 13 years old. He earned one dollar for it!
Billy Taylor went to Dunbar High School, which was the first high school for African American students in the U.S. Later, he studied sociology at Virginia State College. A piano teacher named Undine Smith Moore saw how talented he was. So, he changed his main subject to music and graduated with a music degree in 1942.
After college, Taylor moved to New York City. He started playing piano professionally in 1944. One night, he met the legendary jazz pianist Art Tatum, who became his mentor. Billy Taylor also played with Machito's mambo band, which made him love Latin music. He even toured Europe with the Don Redman Orchestra.
When he came back to New York, he played with famous singers like Billie Holiday. A year later, he became the main pianist at Birdland, a famous jazz club. He played there longer than any other pianist! He performed with jazz greats like Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Miles Davis. In 1949, he wrote his first book, which was a textbook about bebop piano styles.
Middle Career and Famous Music
In 1952, Billy Taylor wrote one of his most famous songs, "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free." This song became very popular during the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s. The singer Nina Simone recorded it in 1967. In the UK, it's well-known as the theme music for the BBC's "Film..." TV show. Billy Taylor made many recordings in the 1950s and 1960s. Some of his albums include Billy Taylor Trio with Candido and My Fair Lady Loves Jazz.
In 1958, he became the music director for NBC's The Subject Is Jazz. This was the first TV show all about jazz music. Famous musicians like Duke Ellington and Bill Evans appeared on it. Taylor also worked as a DJ and program director at a radio station in New York. From 1969 to 1972, he led the band for The David Frost Show. He was the first African American to lead a band on a talk show! Many jazz stars like Louis Armstrong and Count Basie played on the show.
In 1964, Billy Taylor started Jazzmobile in New York City. This program helps teach people about jazz through educational shows. Jazzmobile even won an award for a jazz special they made for National Public Radio. Taylor also hosted two popular jazz radio shows on National Public Radio: Jazz Alive! and Billy Taylor's Jazz at the Kennedy Center.
Later Career and Lasting Impact
In 1981, Billy Taylor became a reporter for CBS News Sunday Morning. He interviewed over 250 musicians! He even won an Emmy Award for his interview with the talented Quincy Jones.
In 1989, Taylor started his own record label called "Taylor Made." This allowed him to release his own music. Some of his albums include You Tempt Me (1996) and White Nights (1991), which was recorded live in the Soviet Union. He also released Solo (1992) and Jazzmobile Allstars (1992). In 1997, he received the New York State Governor's Art Award.
Billy Taylor had a stroke in 2002, which affected his right hand. But he kept performing almost until he passed away. He died from a heart attack on December 28, 2010, at the age of 89.
A special memorial service was held for him in Harlem. Many musicians performed, including his last trio members and long-time friends. Billy Taylor was survived by his wife of 65 years, Theodora, his daughter, Kim, and a granddaughter. His son, Duane, had passed away earlier in 1988.
Billy Taylor's Legacy
Billy Taylor appeared on hundreds of albums and wrote over 300 songs during his career, which lasted more than sixty years. His 1963 song "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free" became a very important song for the civil rights movement. The New York Times called it "one of the greatest songs of the sixties." It was also used as the theme music for the 1996 movie Ghosts of Mississippi.
A big part of Billy Taylor's life was teaching and sharing jazz with more people, especially young people. He taught jazz courses at several universities, including Howard University and the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He also wrote instructional books about jazz. He earned his Master's and a special Doctor of Education degree in Music Education in 1975.
Because he appeared so much on TV and in jazz education programs, many people knew him as a TV personality. He brought the music he loved to many audiences. He once said that being a jazz advocate (someone who supports jazz) became more famous than his playing. He wanted to show everyone that jazz has a big audience.
Awards and Honors
Billy Taylor received more than 20 honorary doctoral degrees. He also won many important awards, including:
- Two Peabody Awards for his work with Jazzmobile.
- The NEA Jazz Masters Award in 1998.
- An Emmy Award in 1983 for his interviews on CBS News Sunday Morning.
- A Grammy Award in 2004.
- Down Beat magazine's Lifetime Achievement award in 1984.
- The National Medal of Arts in 1992.
- The Tiffany Award in 1991.
- An Honorary Doctorate of Music from the Berklee College of Music in 1981.
In 2001, he was honored with the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) Jazz Living Legend Award. He was also chosen for the Hall of Fame for the International Association for Jazz Education. He was the artistic director for jazz at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. There, he created popular concert series like the Louis Armstrong Legacy series and the annual Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Festival. He even performed at the White House seven times! He was one of only three jazz musicians to be chosen for the National Council of the Arts.
Billy Taylor was inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame in 2010.
Discography
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As the Main Artist
- 1945: Billy Taylor Piano (Savoy)
- 1951: Piano Panorama (Atlantic)
- 1952: Jazz At Storyville (Roost)
- 1953: Billy Taylor Trio (Prestige)
- 1953–54: Cross Section (Prestige)
- 1954: The Billy Taylor Trio with Candido (Prestige)
- 1954: Billy Taylor Trio at Town Hall (Prestige)
- 1955: A Touch of Taylor (Prestige)
- 1956: Evergreens (ABC-Paramount)
- 1956: Billy Taylor at the London House (ABC-Paramount)
- 1957: Introduces Ira Sullivan (ABC-Paramount)
- 1957: My Fair Lady Loves Jazz (ABC-Paramount)
- 1957: The Billy Taylor Touch (Atlantic)
- 1957: The New Billy Taylor Trio (ABC-Paramount)
- 1959: One for Fun (Atlantic)
- 1959: Billy Taylor with Four Flutes (Riverside)
- 1959: Taylor Made Jazz (Argo)
- 1960: Uptown (Riverside)
- 1960: Warming Up! (Riverside)
- 1961: Interlude (Prestige Moodsville)
- 1961: Kwamina (Mercury)
- 1962: Impromptu (Mercury)
- 1963: Right Here, Right Now! (Capitol)
- 1965: Midnight Piano (Capitol)
- 1968: I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free (Tower)
- 1969: Sleeping Bee (MPS)
- 1970: Ok Billy (Bell)
- 1977: Jazz Live (Monmouth Evergreen)
- 1977: Live at Storyville (West 54 Records)
- 1981: With Joe Kennedy Where've You Been (Concord Jazz)
- 1985: You Tempt Me (Taylor-Made, 1989)
- 1988: White Nights And Jazz in Leningrad (Taylor-Made)
- 1988: Solo (Taylor-Made)
- 1989: Billy Taylor and the Jazzmobile All Stars (Taylor-Made)
- 1991: White Nights and Jazz in Leningrad (Taylor-Made)
- 1992: Dr. T with Gerry Mulligan (GRP Records)
- 1993: Live at MCG with Gerry Mulligan, Carl Allen, Chip Jackson
- 1993: It's a Matter of Pride (GRP)
- 1995: Homage (GRP)
- 1997: The Music Keeps Us Young (Arkadia Jazz)
- 1999: Ten Fingers – One Voice (Arkadia Jazz)
- 1999: Taylor Made at the Kennedy Center with Dee Dee Bridgewater (Kennedy Center Jazz)
- 2001: Urban Griot (Soundspot)
- 2002: Live at AJE New York (Soundspot)
As a Supporting Musician
- Thank You, Duke! with Arkadia Jazz All Stars
- Once in Every Life (1980) with Johnny Hartman
- Timeless Jazz (1954) with Coleman Hawkins
- A Grand Night for Swinging (1957) with Mundell Lowe
- Metronome All-Stars 1956 (1956) with the Metronome All-Stars
- Juicy Lucy (1978) with Sal Salvador
- The Matadors Meet the Bull (1965) with Sonny Stitt
- What's New!!! (1966) with Sonny Stitt
- Accent on Tenor Sax (1954) with Lucky Thompson
- Charlie Parker 10th Memorial Concert (1965) with Various Artists
- "Jazz Tones" (1954) with Coleman Hawkins
Images for kids
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Taylor in 2000
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Billy Taylor performing at Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts, Long Island, New York, June 25, 2007
See also
In Spanish: Billy Taylor para niños
