Art Taylor

Arthur S. Taylor Jr. (April 6, 1929 – February 6, 1995) was an American jazz drummer, who "helped define the sound of modern jazz drumming".Watrous, Peter (February 7, 1995)
"Art Taylor, 65, Jazz Drummer Who Inspired Young Musicians"
''The New York Times''.

Career

As a teenager, Taylor joined a local Harlem band that featured Sonny Rollins, Jackie McLean and Kenny Drew. After playing in the bands of Howard McGhee (1948), Coleman Hawkins (1950–51), Buddy DeFranco (1952), Bud Powell (1953), George Wallington and Art Farmer (1954), Powell and Wallington again (1954–55), Gigi Gryce and Donald Byrd (1956), he formed his own group, Taylor's Wailers.Feather, Leonard & Gitler, Ira (2007), ''The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz'', p. 637. Oxford University Press. Between 1957 and 1963, he toured with Donald Byrd, recorded with Miles Davis, Gene Ammons and John Coltrane, and performed with Thelonious Monk; Taylor also was a member of the original Kenny Dorham Quartet of 1957.

In 1963, Taylor moved to Europe, where he lived mainly in France and Belgium for 20 years, playing with local groups and jazz musicians such as Johnny Griffin, John Bodwin, and with travelling American musicians, such as Woody Shaw during the latter's tenure in Paris. Taylor also studied drums in Paris with Kenny Clarke. He returned to the United States to help his mother, who was ill. He continued freelancing after returning to the United States, and in 1993 organized a second band called Taylor's Wailers. He died aged 65 in Beth Israel Hospital, Manhattan, in 1995.

He was the author of ''Notes and Tones'', a 1993 book based on his interviews with other musicians. This was, for many musicians, a ground-breaking work, because it presented the interviewees' perspectives on the wider social, political, and economic forces in which they operated – topics normally not mentioned in mainstream coverage of jazz musicians.

Discography

As leader

* ''Taylor's Wailers'' (Prestige, 1957)
* ''Taylor's Tenors'' (Prestige, 1959)
* '' A.T.'s Delight'' (Blue Note, 1960)
* '' Mr. A.T.'' (Enja, 1991)
* '' Wailin' at the Vanguard'' (Verve, 1991)

As sideman

With Pepper Adams, et al.
*''Baritones and French Horns'' (1957)

With Gene Ammons
*''The Happy Blues'' (Prestige, 1957)
*'' Jammin' in Hi Fi with Gene Ammons'' (Prestige, 1957)
*'' The Big Sound'' (Prestige, 1958)
*''Groove Blues'' (Prestige, 1958)
*''Boss Tenor'' (Prestige, 1960 964
*'' Angel Eyes'' (Prestige, 1960 965
*''Up Tight!'' (Prestige, 1961)
*'' Boss Soul!'' (Prestige, 1961)

With Chris Anderson
*'' My Romance'' (Vee-Jay, 1960 983

With Dorothy Ashby
*'' In a Minor Groove'' (New Jazz, 1958)
*''Hip Harp'' (Prestige, 1958)

With Benny Bailey
*'' Big Brass'' (Candid, 1960)

With Kenny Burrell
*'' All Night Long'' (Prestige, 1956)
*'' All Day Long'' (Prestige, 1957)
*'' 2 Guitars'' – with Jimmy Raney (Prestige, 1957)
*''Just Wailin', Charlie Rouse and Mal Waldron

With Donald Byrd
*''2 Trumpets'' (Prestige, 1956) – with Art Farmer
*'' Jazz Eyes'' (Regent, 1957) – with John Jenkins
*'' Off to the Races'' (Blue Note, 1958)
*''Byrd in Hand'' (Blue Note, 1959)

With Paul Chambers
*'' Bass on Top'' (1957)

With Sonny Clark
*''Sonny's Crib'' (Blue Note, 1957)

With James Clay
*''The Sound of the Wide Open Spaces!!!!

With Jimmy Cleveland
*'' A Map of Jimmy Cleveland'' (Mercury, 1959)

With Arnett Cobb
*'' Party Time'' (Prestige, 1959)
*'' More Party Time'' (Prestige, 1960)
*'' Movin' Right Along'' (Prestige, 1960)

With John Coltrane
*'' Wheelin' & Dealin''' (1957)
*'' Trane's Blues'' (1957)
*'' The Dealers'' (1957)
*'' Black Pearls'' (1958)
*'' Lush Life'' (1958)
*'' The Believer'' (1958)
*'' Settin' the Pace'' (1958)
*''The Last Trane'' (1958)
*'' Jazz Way Out'' (1958)
*''Traneing In'' (1958)
*''Soultrane'' (1958)
*''Giant Steps'' (1959)
*''Bahia'' (1964)
*''Alternate Takes'' (1975)

With Continuum
*''Mad About Tadd'' (1980, Palo Alto Records)

With Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis
*'' Goin' to the Meeting'' (Prestige, 1962)

With Miles Davis
*'' Miles Ahead'' (1957)
*''Collector's Items'' (Prestige, 1956)

With Walter Davis Jr.
*'' Davis Cup'' (1959)

With Kenny Dorham
*''Show Boat'' (1960)

With Art Farmer
*''The Art Farmer Septet'' (Prestige, 1953–54)
*'' When Farmer Met Gryce'' (Prestige, 1955) – with Gigi Gryce

With Tommy Flanagan
*''Thelonica'' (Enja, 1982)

With Red Garland
*'' A Garland of Red'' (Prestige, 1956)
*'' Red Garland Revisited!'' (Prestige, 1957 969
*'' The P.C. Blues'' (Prestige 1956–57 970
*'' Red Garland's Piano'' (Prestige, 1956–57)
*''Groovy'' (Prestige, 1956–57)
*'' All Mornin' Long'' (Prestige, 1957)
*'' Soul Junction'' (Prestige, 1957)
*'' John Coltrane with the Red Garland Trio'' (Prestige, 1958)
*'' Manteca'' (Prestige, 1958)
*'' Red in Blues-ville''(Prestige, 1959)
*''High Pressure'' (Prestige, 1957 962
*'' The Red Garland Trio'' (Moodsville, 1958 960
*'' All Kinds of Weather'' (Prestige, 1958)
*'' The Red Garland Trio + Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis'' (Moodsville, 1959)
*'' Halleloo-Y'-All'' (Prestige, 1960)

With Matthew Gee
*''Jazz by Gee'' (Riverside, 1956)

With Benny Golson
*''Gettin' with It'' (New Jazz, 1959)
*'' Free'' (Argo, 1962)

With Dexter Gordon
*''One Flight Up'' (Blue Note, 1964)
*'' The Squirrel'' (Blue Note, 1967 997
*'' A Day in Copenhagen'' (MPS, 1969) – with Slide Hampton

With Bennie Green
*''Hornful of Soul'' (1960)

With Johnny Griffin
*'' Do Nothing 'til You Hear from Me'' (Riverside, 1963)

With Tiny Grimes
*'' Tiny in Swingville'' (Swingville, 1959) – with Jerome Richardson

With Steve Grossman
*''In New York (Steve Grossman album)'' (Dreyfus, 1991)

With Gigi Gryce
*''Jazz Lab'' (Riverside, 1957)
*''Modern Jazz Perspective'' (Columbia, 1957) – with Donald Byrd
*'' New Formulas from the Jazz Lab'' (RCA Victor, 1957) with Donald Byrd
*''Jazz Lab