Other Groups
In addition to the Trio, Billy has performed and recording in a variety of configurations during his celebrated career.
Billy has written a number of works for Trio and Orchestra, that he has performed with Symphony Orchestras worldwide.
He was commissioned to write, Homage, string quartet and Jazz trio and performed the work with his Trio and the Juilliard String Quartet.
Peaceful Warrior, dedicated to Martin Luther King, was commissioned by the Atlanta Symphony and its premiere featured Billy Taylor’s trio and a choir of a hundred voices.
Billy Taylor was the first African-American to lead an orchestra on a daily show. The 13 piece big-band he led for the David Frost Show included Frank Wess, Seldon Powell, Bob Cranshaw and Bobby Thomas.
He also a big band on Tony Brown’s Black Journal, on PBS, as well as another ensemble for Brown’s brief African-American oriented daily talk show for the network.
In the 90s, Billy toured as part of a Piano Duo with his long-time friend, Ramsey Lewis. In addition to concerts around the country, they played for President Clinton at the White House.
“Billy’s always had great taste and a good head for tunes. And he was very easy to work with. Being a working trio, it wasn’t like a thing where you’d go in the studio and start to run down tunes and rehearse them. He knew what he was doing. Billy Taylor has always been very affable, gregarious and pleasant, the Billy Taylor we know and love.”
Ira Gitler, Writer
“Out of necessity, Billy taught me how to play very quietly with intensity because in his palying, he would go from the very light to something more bombastic. But it wasn’t the kind of bombastic playing you’d do with a big band so I had to cut the volume in half at all times, yet the intensity had to remain there. I learned how to do that playing with Billy. He didn’t turn around and demand it of me, it’s just that when you’re a drummer, you have to be quick enough to decide to play softer or louder, more fills or less fills. Billy taught me a hell of a lot about dynamics. He also taught me about programming. He knows how to program a set with changing of keys and different tempos and styles.”
Grady Tate, Drummer/Vocalist
