New York (AP) — Billy Taylor, an acclaimed jazz pianist and composer who became one of the genre's most ardent advocates through radio, television and the landmark Jazzmobile arts venture, has died at age 89. Taylor died Tuesday of a heart attack in Manhattan, said his wife, Theodora Taylor. "He enjoyed his life," she said. "Music was his love." Though he had a noteworthy career as a musician and composer that spanned decades, and played with luminaries such as Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis, Billy Taylor was probably best known as a tireless jazz booster, educator and broadcaster. Dr....
- 12/30/2010
- by Cristian Salazar (AP)
- Hitfix
Billy Taylor, the noted jazz pianist and educator who enjoyed tremendous success on television, has died. He was 89.
Taylor died Tuesday of heart failure in New York, his daughter, Kim Taylor-Thompson, told The New York Times.
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A longtime fixture on television unlike many of his contemporaries, Taylor served as cultural correspondent on CBS News' Sunday Morning and was the first African-American to lead a talk-show band when he was bandleader for The David Frost Show from 1969 to '72.
He first made his mark on TV in 1958 as the musical director of NBC's The Subject Is Jazz, the first TV series that ...
Read More >...
Taylor died Tuesday of heart failure in New York, his daughter, Kim Taylor-Thompson, told The New York Times.
See other celebrities who died this year
A longtime fixture on television unlike many of his contemporaries, Taylor served as cultural correspondent on CBS News' Sunday Morning and was the first African-American to lead a talk-show band when he was bandleader for The David Frost Show from 1969 to '72.
He first made his mark on TV in 1958 as the musical director of NBC's The Subject Is Jazz, the first TV series that ...
Read More >...
- 12/30/2010
- by Joyce Eng
- TVGuide - Breaking News
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