Billy Taylor to leave Jazz in July

By Andrew Horton
Staff Writer

Published on July 18, 2008

Acclaimed jazz pianist and professor William E. "Billy" Taylor - who for the past 27 years has helped budding area jazz musicians make a creative connection with the University of Massachusetts Jazz in July program - is retiring from the popular two-week summer tradition.

Taylor, 86, along with fellow UMass faculty members Max Roach and Frederick C. Tillis, helped create the program in 1982, and he has been an active in-residence scholar and teacher since its inception. During his lengthy tenure with the program, he guided more than 1,500 young jazz musicians along the path toward making musical magic with his insightful, yet fundamental approach.

Taylor began imparting his wisdom and musical knowledge at UMass, when he earned a doctorate in education in 1975. Eleven years later, he was appointed Wilmer D. Barrett Professor of Music; he received an honorary doctor of arts degree in 1986.

Taylor said his commanding knowledge of jazz history (he wrote his dissertation on the history of jazz piano) has been beneficial in helping students understand the fundamentals and become better musicians.

"I use the history of jazz to show that young teens can easily improve on something that's over a hundred years old," Taylor said.

The Jazz in July program is based on the successful Jazz Mobile program - an inner-city program in New York aimed at bringing jazz to new communities and new audiences. For a time, Taylor was a teacher for Jazz Mobile, and he began to think about bringing a similar program to Amherst.

"I wanted to do something like it here at UMass," Taylor said. "Over the years, a lot of people have gone on to do some wonderful things. For me, it's been a labor of love."

When students come to the Jazz in July program, Taylor said most are expert musicians who just need some tweaking to play a certain style of jazz.

"Many of them do this on their own, and when they come to us, they've already done things that have fascinated us," Taylor said. "When they come to us, we give them advice and show them to play in certain ways. You give a young person something and show them that this is the way they can make it happen, and then they just grasp it and run with it."

His past students and colleagues have included Roberta Flack, Bill Barron, Bill Cosby and Camille Cosby.

Over the years, hundreds of professional jazz musicians like Jeff Holmes also got to see how Taylor's genius inspired his students. In a way, Holmes, who teaches in the Jazz in July program, said that Taylor's approach to teaching is almost patriarchal.

"He always seems to find enjoyment in any musician's discovery," Holmes said. "Were it not for him, I'm sure that a number of people who have been here over the years wouldn't have that experience. He certainly leads by example, and he is a performer who has been involved with every aspect of the music business."

Holmes said the entire faculty was stunned by Taylor's decision to retire.

"He's the type of person you feel is going to be there all the time, and I don't think Jazz in July will ever be the same with him not being there," Holmes said. "He's one of those types of people who you're sad to see go. He's going to be sorely missed because he's such a knowledgeable person and yet he's always done it with a sense of modesty."

Taylor's final send-off will be July 17, when the Billy Taylor Trio plays at Bowker Auditorium starting at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 for the general public and $10 for students and seniors, and are available in advance at the Fine Arts Center box office.