The Billy Taylor Trio
Billy Taylor was an amazingly articulate spokesman for jazz, and his profiles on CBS' Sunday Morning television program (where he was a regular beginning in 1981) were so successful at introducing jazz to a wider audience, that sometimes one could forget what a talented pianist he was for over half-a-century. While not an innovator, Taylor was flexible enough to play swing, bop, and more advanced styles while always retaining his own musical personality. After graduating from Virginia State College in 1942, he moved to New York and played with such major musicians as Ben Webster, Eddie South, Stuff Smith (with whom he recorded in 1944), and Slam Stewart, among others. In 1951, he was the house pianist at Birdland and soon afterward formed his first of many trios. He helped found the Jazzmobile in 1965. In 1969 he became the first Black band director for a network television series (The David Frost Show). He earned his doctorate at the University of Massachusetts in 1975 and founded and served as director for the popular radio program Jazz Alive. Despite his activities in jazz education, Taylor was rarely absent from performances and recordings, always keeping his bop-based style consistently swinging and fresh. He died of heart failure in New York on December 28, 2010, at the age of 89.
© Scott Yanow /TiVo
Discography
9 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Custom Taylored
Jazz - Released by and more bears Richard Weize on 24 Feb 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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The Billy Taylor Trio With Candido
Jazz - Released by BHM on 26 Aug 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
My Fair Lady Loves Jazz
Jazz - Released by CoolNote on 1 Jan 1957
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Billy Taylor Trio Introduces Ira Sullivan
Jazz - Released by CoolNote on 1 Jan 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Billy Taylor Trio with Candido (Album of 1956)
Pop - Released by Jazz Classics on 31 Oct 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
My Fair Lady Loves Jazz
Contemporary Jazz - Released by Music Manager on 29 Apr 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
It's a Grand Night for Swinging (All Tracks Remastered)
Jazz - Released by Hit Singles Records on 11 Jun 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Moodsville Volume 16: Interlude
Jazz - Released by SINETONE AMR on 31 Jan 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo