MUSICIAN

Billy Taylor

1921 - 2010

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Billy Taylor (July 24, 1921 – December 28, 2010) was an American jazz pianist, composer, broadcaster and educator. He was the Robert L. Jones Distinguished Professor of Music at East Carolina University in Greenville, and from 1994 was the artistic director for jazz at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. A jazz activist, Taylor sat on the Honorary Founders Board of The Jazz Foundation of America, an organisation he founded in 1989, with Ann Ruckert, Herb Storfer and Phoebe Jacobs, to save the homes and the lives of America's elderly jazz and blues musicians, later including musicians who survived Hurricane Katrina. Taylor was a jazz educator, who lectured in colleges, served on panels and travelled worldwide as a jazz ambassador. Critic Leonard Feather once said, "It is almost indisputable that Dr. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in 20 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 18 in 2024). Billy Taylor is the 2,549th most popular musician (down from 2,503rd in 2024), the 14,141st most popular biography from United States (down from 13,720th in 2019) and the 1,054th most popular American Musician.

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Among MUSICIANS

Among musicians, Billy Taylor ranks 2,549 out of 3,175. Before him are Erick Morillo, DJ Ashba, Andraé Crouch, Dirk Verbeuren, Bob Johnston, and Gus G. After him are Nicolas Jaar, Sarah Caldwell, Toby Fox, Bruce Fairbairn, Tony Alva, and Derrick May.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1921, Billy Taylor ranks 464. Before him are John Davis, Wayne C. Booth, Kitty Kallen, Dinny Pails, John Lindsay, and Bobby Wanzer. After him are Sita Ram Goel, Rodger Ward, Janet Blair, Jack Valenti, Patricia Barry, and Cyprian Ekwensi. Among people deceased in 2010, Billy Taylor ranks 472. Before him are Walter Frederick Morrison, June Havoc, Mano Solo, Juan Carlos Arteche, Wally Hickel, and Ksenija Pajčin. After him are Sławomir Skrzypek, Eddie Baily, Lamont Johnson, Dorothy Height, Helen Wagner, and Barbara Billingsley.

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In United States

Among people born in United States, Billy Taylor ranks 14,145 out of 20,380. Before him are Graham Harman (1968), John Sayles (1950), Alexander Martin (1740), Eva Amurri (1985), Jordan Fisher (1994), and Sherri Martel (1958). After him are Robert D. Cabana (1949), Laurell K. Hamilton (1963), Roy Halladay (1977), Etika (1990), Sophia Ali (1995), and Marjory Stoneman Douglas (1890).

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Among MUSICIANS In United States

Among musicians born in United States, Billy Taylor ranks 1,054. Before him are Dick Hyman (1927), Sean Kinney (1966), Erick Morillo (1971), DJ Ashba (1972), Andraé Crouch (1942), and Bob Johnston (1932). After him are Nicolas Jaar (1990), Sarah Caldwell (1924), Toby Fox (1991), Tony Alva (1957), Derrick May (1963), and Roger Sanchez (1967).

American born Musicians

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