Legendary Jazz pianist Dr. Billy Taylor has served as Artistic Advisor for Jazz for The Kennedy Center for over 10 years. In honor of his recent retirement from this position, The Kennedy Center has released Taylor Made at the Kennedy Center , a collection of Taylor's compositions performed during his tenure.
This collection is a wonderful introduction to Dr. Taylor's music as it provides a wide variety of his compositions. Taylor himself performs on seven of the nine tracks while the other two "If You Are Really Concerned" and "Diz" were performed in January 2002 at his 80th birthday celebration concert at the Kennedy Center. Ironically, Taylor was unable to perform due to a stroke that he suffered just a few weeks prior that left him paralyzed on the right side.
Each track includes a wide assortment of guest performers in addition to regular trio members bassist Chip Jackson and drummer Winard Harper. In fact, one of the most interesting tracks on the CD is the trio's rendition of "Suite for Jazz Piano and Orchestra" which Taylor originally composed for a concert with the National Symphony Orchestra.
This is an excellent CD to begin with for someone who is either new to Taylor's music or is a longtime fan.
Taylor Made at the Kennedy Center is available through The Kennedy Center Gift Shop.
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