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| Vol. 17, No. 19 | Feb. 12, 1998 |
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| Vol. 17, No. 19 | Feb. 12, 1998 |
Jazz great Billy Taylor brings his famous piano style to the University in concert at 8 p.m., Friday, Feb. 27, in Mitchell Hall. Now 75, Taylor plays with a passion and enthusiasm that has thrilled jazz fans for more than half a century.
The pianist, composer, author, activist, teacher, lecturer, actor and radio and television personality still finds the energy to play as a solo act or with his trio (which will be with him at UD) three weeks every month. On college campuses, such as UD, his schedule includes master classes and workshops.
He's also on the faculty at the University of Massachusetts where he received his doctorate in education and now holds the Wilber D. Barrett Chair of Music.
For the last 20 years, he also has been on public radio hosting a variety of jazz programs, the latest of which is Billy Taylor's Jazz at the Kennedy Center. On television, he continues to provide features on jazz musicians for Sunday Morning, the CBS program where he has worked for 15 years.
Additionally, he's the jazz artistic adviser for the Kennedy Center and makes frequent guest appearances with symphony orchestras and continues to compose.
Throughout the '40s, he played with jazz legends such as Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald and more. As the house pianist at Birdland from 1949-1951, he supported many of the era's standouts in jazz, including Dizzy Gillespie. Since then, he has performed predominantly as the leader of his own trio whose current members include Chip Jackson on bass and Steve Johns on drums.
Taylor also is a prolific writer on and about jazz. In the late 1940s, he published the first book every written on bebop piano and, since then, has written more than a dozen others, as well as numerous articles and feature stories.
He has written more than 300 songs, including "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free," which was featured over the opening and closing credits of the film, Ghosts of Mississippi.
Other career highlights include working as the musical director of the first educational jazz series for television and being the first African American to lead a talk show band when he fronted the band on The David Frost Show for four years.
Taylor is the recipient of two Peabody Awards, an Emmy, a Grammy nomination, 16 honorary doctoral degrees and a host of prestigious and highly coveted prizes, such as the National Medal of Arts, the Tiffany Award, a Lifetime achievement Award from Downbeat Magazine, election to the Hall of Fame for the International Association of Jazz Educators and appointment as a Duke Ellington Fellow at Yale.
Considered the foremost jazz educator of our time, Taylor has founded numerous programs for young people and adults. He recently completed a solo album and a CD with his trio.
In addition to his 8 p.m. public performance, Taylor will present a master class and workshop at 2:30 p.m., also on Feb. 27, in the Loudis Recital Hall of the Amy E. du Pont Music Building.
Tickets for the concert are $15 for the general public, $10 for UD faculty, staff, alumni and senior citizens and $6 for students with ID. Tickets are available at all University box offices or by calling 831-2204. Group sales are available.
Part of the Performing Arts Series, Taylor's appearance is sponsored by the UD Office of Alumni and University Relations, the Center for Black Culture and the Cultural Programming Advisory Board.
-Beth Thomas
