Billy Taylor (July 24, 1921 – December 28, 2010) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and educator. He was the Robert L. Jones Distinguished Professor of Music at East Carolina University in Greenville. Since 1994, Taylor was the artistic director for jazz at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.
With over twenty three honorary doctoral degrees, Taylor is also the recipient of two Peabody Awards, NEA Jazz Masters Award (1998) an Emmy Award (1983) for "Outstanding Informational, Cultural or Historical Programming", a Grammy Award (2004) and a host of prestigious and highly coveted prizes, such as the National Medal of Arts (1992), the Tiffany Award, and the Lifetime Achievement Award from Down Beat Magazine. He was also honored in 2001 with the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) Jazz Living Legend Award, and election to the Hall of Fame for the International Association for Jazz Education.
Death of Billy Taylor
Billy Taylor of died of heart failure.
Billy Taylor was 89 years old at the time of his death.
I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free – Billy Taylor