Bob spoke with Dr. Billy Taylor in 2005, just before his farewell concert at the Kennedy Center. They discussed his lengthy career and his impending “retirement” in our performance studio, with Taylor seated at a grand piano, for a full 90 minutes. That conversation was cut down to fit in our hour-long format, which you can hear in full at this link. Taylor died on December 28th of heart failure and is survived by his wife and daughter. A memorial service is scheduled for Monday evening in New York and the family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made in Dr. Taylor’s name to JazzMobile, the organization he founded.
Click here to listen to NPR’s final toast to Billy Taylor.
He was a treasure. Thank you. He sounded like he was thirty. What an amazing man.