130 Taylor, David

and record supported by a devoted global fan base that His passion for new music has led him to commission recognized him as the wellspring for what was known projects from Charles Wuorinen, Daniel Schnyder, David as “free improvisation” or simply “improvised music.” Liebmann, and Eric Ewazen. As an educator, he has His lasting contribution has been to open the door to served on the faculty at the Manhattan School of Music, forging new personal languages of improvisation for Mannes College, and SUNY, Purchase. generations of artists. Taylor shattered musical bound- MARTIN McCAIN aries, bridging a divide between jazz-based improvisers and those coming from the world of notated European Taylor, (Joseph) Deems ( b New York, NY, 22 Dec 1885; art music. His resolute commitment in the face of often d New York, NY, 3 July 1966 ). Composer and critic. He severe marginalization has been an enduring inspira- began piano studies in 1895 , and in 1906 received the tion. Taylor is featured in the documentary  lms Imag- BA from New York University. Victor Herbert, who in ine the Sound (1981 ), Cecil Taylor: All the Notes (2004 ), 1907 heard his music for a university show, The Oracle , and Cecil Taylor ( 2007). advised him to study theory, and so he took harmony and counterpoint lessons with Oscar Coon, a bandsman SELECTED RECORDINGS from Oswego, New York ( 1908–11). After various jobs As unaccompanied soloist: For Olim (1986 , SN) in publishing and journalism he became music critic of As leader: Jazz Advance ( 1956, Tran.); Looking Ahead! ( 1958 , Cont.); the New York World (1921–5 ), editor of Musical Amer- The World of Cecil Taylor ( 1960 , Can.); The Complete Candid Record- ings of Cecil Taylor ( 1960–61, Mosaic); Into the Hot ( 1961, Imp.); ica ( 1927–9), and music critic of the New York Ameri- Live at the Cafe Montmartre ( 1962, Debut [Den.]); Unit Structures can ( 1931–2). In addition, he was director ( 1933–66) ( 1966, BN); Spring of Two Blue-J’s ( 1974 , Unit Core); Cecil Taylor in and president ( 1942–8) of ASCAP, and he worked for Berlin ’88 (1988 , FMP); with D. Redman and E. Jones: Momentum NBC as opera commentator from 1931 , also serving as Space (1999 , Verve) intermission commentator for the national broadcasts of the New York PO ( 1936–43). His books of 1937, BIBLIOGRAPHY W. Balliett : “Jazz Records: Progress and Prudence,” New Yorker xxxiii/8 1940, and 1949 contain expanded versions of his radio (1957), 149–152 talks. Taylor was elected to the National Institute of Arts B. Coss : “Cecil Taylor’s Struggle for Existence: Portrait of the Artist as and Letters in 1924 and to the American Academy of a Coiled Spring,” DB , xxviii/22 (1961), 19–21 Arts and Letters in 1935 . J. Goldberg: Jazz Masters of the Fifties (New York, 1965/R ) Taylor’s music, like his critical work, never bores and N. Hentoff : “The Persistent Challenge of Cecil Taylor,” DB , xxxii/5 (1965), 17–18, 40 is often witty, always deftly constructed, and well timed, A.B. Spellman: Black Music: Four Lives (New York, 1966/R 2004) but it lacks sharp individual pro le or sense of deep E. Jost : Free Jazz (Graz, 1974/R 1981) conviction. So skillful was he in blending European in- R. Rusch: “Cecil Taylor: Interview,” Cadence , iv/1 (1978, R 1984), 3–6, 11 ! uences that even at his most derivative he is not easily W. Balliett: “Jazz: Cecil,” New Yorker lxii/11 (1986), 106–108, 111–113 S. Lake and others: disc notes, Cecil Taylor in Berlin ’88 FMP CD0– labeled. Yet the basic style of even the later works (e.g., CD18 (1989) The King’s Henchman , 1926 , or A Christmas Overture , G. Giddins, ed.: “Cecil Taylor: the Space of 61 Years Danced Through,” 1943 ) is academically post-Romantic, quite close to that VV: Voice Jazz Supplement (26 June 1989) of the American composers trained in Germany around M. Bobak: The Music of Cecil Taylor: An Analysis of Selected Piano the turn of the century such as George White eld Chad- Solos, 1973–1989 (diss., U. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 1994) C. Funkhouser: “Being Matter Ignited . . . : an Interview with Cecil wick, Frederick Converse, and Ethelbert and Arthur Taylor,” Hambone , no. 12 (1995), 17–39 Nevin. Taylor resisted the in! uence of 20th-century H. Mandel : Miles, Ornette, Cecil: Jazz beyond Jazz (New York, 2008) avant-garde trends in perhaps every element except that ERIC CHARRY of orchestration, and he was quoted in a New York Times obituary as saying, “This is the age—not only in Amer- Taylor, David ( b Brooklyn, NY, 6 June 1944). Trombonist. ica, but all over the world—of the pedant run amuck. He studied at the Juilliard School. Over the course of The result has been music that has to be explained, and his career, he has earned a reputation as the most diver- even the explanations are unintelligible except to the si ed bass trombonist of his time. His professional initiate.” This aesthetic conviction perhaps explains in career began as a member of the American SO, led by part the initial enthusiastic acceptance of Taylor’s work— Leopold Stokowski. As a  rst-call bass trombonist in evident by the frequency of Metropolitan Opera perfor- New York, he has also performed with the Thad Jones– mances (14 for The King’s Henchman in 1927–9 and Mel Lewis Big Band, Bob Mintzer Big Band, Charles 16 for Peter Ibbetson in 1931–5). But it may also explain Mingus Big Band, Manhattan Jazz Orchestra, and Duke the fact that his music was virtually forgotten soon Ellington Orchestra. He has performed on Grammy thereafter. His work as both writer on music and execu- Award–winning recordings with the J.J. Johnson Big tive of ASCAP was recognized by that organization with Band, Joe Henderson Big Band, and Randy Brecker the establishment, in 1967 , of the ASCAP Deems Taylor Band. Taylor has also performed with pop artists such awards for meritorious books and articles about music as the Rolling Stones, Frank Sinatra, Aretha Franklin, and musicians. In 1990 his daughter Joan Taylor do- and Blood, Sweat, and Tears. As a chamber musician, nated his archives to the Yale School of Music. Taylor has performed with the Chamber Music Society WRITINGS of Lincoln Center, Orpheus, and St. Luke’s Chamber En- Of Men and Music (New York, 1937) semble. He has collaborated with various artists includ- The well-tempered Listener (New York, 1940/R 1972) ing Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, and Wynton Marsalis. ed.: A Treasury of Gilbert and Sullivan (New York, 1941)