Dr. Billy Taylor and "The Subject is Jazz"

Dr. Billy Taylor (source)

Dr. Billy Taylor (1921-2010), whose centennial we celebrate today, debuted on record in March 1945, right when the Parker/Gillespie revolutions was exploding. He had become a professional musician earlier, with his ears attuned to what he called "pre-Bop" (what Don Byas, Budd Johnson, Charlie Christian or Clyde Hart played). 

His first professional gig was under Ben Webster at the Three Deuces in 1944. From then on, he played, literally, for everybody; in 1946 he toured Europe with Don Redman and stayed in Paris for a while. In 1951, he became house pianist at Birdland, and soon after he started his own trio.

That's just the beginning of his vast credentials as a player — he was a renowned player for all his long life, a foundation as solid as anyone's for his other musical endeavours. 

Taylor was also hugely influential on our perception of jazz today: on the one hand, he was a firm defender of the idea of jazz as "America's classical music" and, leading by example, of the dignity of this music. On the other, in strictly musical terms, he had a university degree in music, not common for a jazz musician of his generation, and he was an early codifier of jazz (he wrote a manual on how to play bebop in the 1940s, as well as several piano instruction books), which implied defining the boundaries and aesthetic of the music.

Thus, although he was a great pianist, his most significant work was probably as an indefatigable educator and promoter of jazz, with the Jazzmobile, which he started in 1964, possibly his best and longest-lasting achievement. 

Before that, in 1958, he was the engine behind the show "The Subject Is Jazz", which Taylor himself considered years later, in his autobiography, "dry, stoic, and overtly academic" (it was, indeed, part of NBC's "Education Programming Project"). Be it as it may, it is still a great window to the past, and a unique opportunity to watch a few great players in action (most of the footage of jazz from those years comes from European public TV stations).

Luckily, the Kennedy Center Education Digital Learning programme has uploaded six complete shows (out of 13). Watch out for show #12, "Jazz Today", which includes short chats about various aspects of the musician's life in 1958 with Tony Scott, Ed Thigpen, Doc Severinsen, Mundell Lowe and, especially, Jimmy Cleveland about freelancing.

Here they are

4. PERFORMANCE (filmed on April 2, 1958)

With Doc Severinsen, trumpet; Jimmy Cleveland, trombone; Tony Scott, clarinet, baritone sax; Mundell Lowe, guitar; Billy Taylor, piano; Eddie Safranski, bass; Osie Johnson, drums.

5. SWING 

With Carl Pool, Doc Severinsen and Buck Clayton, trumpets; Benny Morton and Jimmy Cleveland, trombones; Ben Webster, Tony Scott, Sid Cooper and Paul Quinichette, saxes; Billy Taylor, piano; Mundell Lowe, guitar; Eddie Safranski, bass; Ed Thigpen, drums; plus guest John Hammond.

6. BLUES 

With Buck Clayton, trumpet; Vic Dickenson, trombone; Paul Quinichette, tenor sax; Billy Taylor, piano; Mundell Lowe, guitar; Eddie Safranski, bass; Ed Thigpen, drums; plus guests Jimmy Rushing, Leonard Feather.

10. INTERNATIONAL SIGNIFICANCE 

With Jimmy Cleveland, trombone; Bobby Jaspar, tenor sax, flute; Rolf Kühn, clarinet; Billy Taylor, piano; Mundell Lowe, guitar; Eddie Safranski, bass; Ed Thigpen, drums; plus guest Toshiko Akiyoshi on piano, and an interview with Willis Conover.

12. JAZZ TODAY (filmed on June 11, 1958)

With the Billy Taylor trio (Ed Thigpen on drums and Earl May on bass), plus Tony Scott on clarinet and baritone sax, Doc Severinsen on trumpet, Mundell Lowe on guitar, and Jimmy Cleveland on trombone.

13. THE FUTURE OF JAZZ

With
* Doc Severinsen, trumpet; Jimmy Cleveland, trombone; Tony Scott, clarinet; Mundell Lowe, guitar; Billy Taylor, piano; Eddie Safranski, bass; Ed Thigpen, drums.
* Art Farmer, trumpet; Jimmy Cleveland, trombone; Gene Quill, alto sax; Barry Galbraith, guitar; Bill Evans, piano; Eddie Safranski, bass; Ed Thigpen, drums.
Interviews with Robert Pace and George Russell.

Bonus!: excerpts from the shows 

7. Bebop (filmed on May 7, 1958; with Nat Adderley, cornet; Jimmy Cleveland, trombone; Cannonball Adderley, alto sax; Billy Taylor, piano; Mundell Lowe, guitar; Eddie Safranski, bass; Ed Thigpen, drums).

8a. Cool: "Godchild" 
8b. Cool: "Half Nelson" (piano solo) + "Ladybird" 
8c. Cool: "Subconscious-Lee" 
(filmed on May 14, 1958; with Don Elliott, trumpet, vibraphone, and mellophone; Lee Konitz, alto sax; Warne Marsh, tenor sax; Billy Taylor, piano; Mundell Lowe, guitar; Eddie Safranski, bass; Ed Thigpen, drums).