The Jazz Life of Dr. Billy Taylor
Billy Taylor
The Jazz Life of Dr. Billy Taylor: America's Classical Musician is the autobiography of the legendary jazz ambassador whose work spans more than six decades, from the heyday of 52nd Street in 1940s New York City to CBS Sunday Morning. Beginning with his childhood in segregation-era Washington D.C., Billy Taylor recounts how he came of age as a jazz musician in smoke-filled clubs pulsating with the rhythms of bebop, and later climbed to world acclaim as an internationally recognized music educator and popular media figure. Through his life's work, Taylor fought not only for the recognition of jazz music as "America's classical music" but also for the recognition of black musicians as key contributors to the American music repertoire. Peppered with anecdotes detailing encounters with other jazz legends such as Fats Waller, Jelly Roll Morton, Duke Ellington, Art Tatum, Ben Webster, Count Basie, Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington, and many others, this autobiography is not only the life story of a jazz musician and spokesman, but is also the history of a nation grappling with racism and modernity.
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Reviews for The Jazz Life of Dr. Billy Taylor
JazzTimes
...Those of us who had the privilege of hearing him speak will recognize how accurately Reed captures his spirit and his enthusiasm for the music to which he dedicated his life.
NPR
This must-read collaboration weaves not only the story of a highly esteemed jazz great and genre ambassador, but it is also a narrative on racism and the social influence of jazz.
Smooth Jazz News
This book (including Dr. Teresa L. Reed's eloquent introduction) captures with great clarity and accuracy the character of this man. Taylor not only always aspired to excellence, he was also humble and generous of word and deed. The Jazz Life of Dr. Billy Taylor provides the backstory of why he must be remembered as one of the major leading lights of America's classical music.
New York City Jazz Record
[C]o-author Reed has done an exemlary job of making the story flow in Taylor's own words.
Jazzwise