The Two Hands of Billy Taylor

[rillloudmother]

anyone know the tune? sounds familiar...

[tyleryesta1]

outstanding chops!

[MrAlcides1611]

The wizardry of Mr. Taylor is fantastic! An amazing pianist and a true gentleman. Bravo!!!

[slaviczech]

no Cash, no Jobs, no Hope, no Billy...rip, master

[JazzVideoGuy]

@slaviczech When will the next appear? Hard to predict.

[speakeasynyc]

BT, a true gentleman, Master musician and champion of Jazz. The totally complete package. For me, the fact that there was always so much Bud & Monk in his playing was just gravy.

[MrEdium]

Art Tatum, Bud Powell, Oscar Peterson, Lennie Tristano,Dave Mc Kenna to Dr. Billy Taylor. He was the director of JAZZMOBILE in Harlem, and was brillant. I studied piano with Sharon Freedman and sometimes he would drop by and SCARE US HALF TO DEATH with his playing. SO MUCH PIANO. He said he used the HANON in ALL 12 keys as his warm-up. Maybe for an immortal like him but I needed help after seeing him play. Unreal Genius with a warm personality. HE WILL BE MISSED.

[tuxguys]

7//23/11, 2:00AM...

RIP Dr. Billy... if there was ever a better left hand in this idiom, I don't know where it was hiding...

[Audi0Phil]

Look at the guy sitting next to him ... he looks like a scientist would look while regarding a genius theory .... and than look at Billy ... he is just like having a little bit fun

this guy is brilliant no doubt

[JackTheAce1]

@Audi0Phil that guy sitting next to him is John Lewis. He was actually an amazing jazz pianist too! But probably not as good as Billy Taylor was.

[ThotherBrother]

Ho-Ly-Phunk!

[MEpianist]

RIP, what a master~!

[ewaynea]

... and a good soul to boot!

[CGOODNITES]

r.i.p. DR.TAYLOR he was one of the master's!

[TheRealExcelsior]

R.I.P. Dr. Taylor. thanks for your gift

[snoopdog44144]

@TheRealExcelsior ..whats the name of this song he's playin or is he improvising

[louis621]

@snoopdog44144 it seems to be a regular blues, in the jazz style so with the VI-ii-V-I at the end and a dim i somewhere in the middle... fairly standard jazz blues but billy rips it up: lots of substitutions and liberties, really makes it his own.

[79pretzel]

Sad to hear of Billy's passing - such a great talent!

[JinjaB123]

i just jizzed

[Antiks72]

The man can shred.

[yamakasko]

@gospelkeys07 i think it is something like scatting in mind. Not just pianists are doing it. But praevius can be right too. dunno

[bboymango]

i think its safe to say that billy taylor is the jazz bach

[BillyWillis89]

@bboymango His counterpoint is truly remarkable.

[sugarpacketchad]

wow!

[Skipper7009]

Oh my! Simply elegant, tasteful JAZZ. And oh so sophisticated, this. Oooooo.

[Andreeeiiii]

1:40 thats one peterson lick :P

[pistok2]

@gospelkeys07 i kno alot of ppl that sing what they're playin so they can get their ideas right thats prolly what he's doin

[praevius]

@gospelkeys07 It's a kind of tic that even some classical pianists have. I guess there's some scientific explanation for it, the brain involuntarily releasing tension due to the encredible concentration required.

I think he's not saying anything. I've listened to a lot of Oscar Peterson and most of the time he's just sort of grunting :)

[ryanz06]

magic

[BenNCM]

thankyou for being made youtube!

[snoopdog44144]

nice.. oscar peterson was better though

[progammler55]

da steht selbst den pianisten der mund offen...

[haruncenani]

Yess !

[Andreeeiiii]

BACH!

[aknowneemus]

That left hand is amazing.

maybe that's why willie 'the lion" smith liked billy so much.

"the lion" judged all piano players based on their left hand.

[macflyfilm]

Not just a great player, he also has a great attitude.

[joceeco]

Thank God for You-TUBE.

[BluStrat22]

I spent about 6 years with Dr Taylor recording his NPR series, both at the Kennedy Center and on the road. I miss working with the man so much...he is just fantastic!! I have gobs of audio recordings at home, but it sure is nice to actually SEE him play again! Thanks for posting this!!

[MrPewpyNuts]

there is not a single video of mr. taylor that doesnt have 5 stars... does anyone know why??? because he is like the best freakin piano play in the world!!!!! this man has inspired me so much... and i dont even play piano! except im starting to learn... because of this man. so much inspiration! what a fantastic musician! thank you for the post and all of the other posts jazzvideoguy!

[LilMusician71695]

absolutley GENIUS

[musictranscription]

I like to transcribe this song

[bloacatera]

just can't stop loving this stuff :X

[4u2b1ib12]

Ouuuch! Smooth, cool, and jumping!

[tuxguys]

It was great. He's extremely old and frail now, but he gave a wonderful sit-down interview on stage with Bill Banfield, Berklee's Africana-studies guy, and then he played with Carrington and a student bass player, started off with "All the Things You Are" and went from there. His playing sure as hell shows no frailty.

[Darrell1019]

Is there a recording of this interview?

[tuxguys]

I have no doubt it was vieotaped... You might call the Berklee College of Music public affairs/ p.r. department and ask them.

[tuxguys]

McKenna, Peterson, Tatum, and Taylor... and, thank God, we still have Taylor... as I write this (1/12/09), I'll be seeing him at the BPC in Boston getting an award tomorrow... I sure as hell hope he plays...

[JazzVideoGuy]

He plans to play with a Trio that includes drummer Teri Lynn Carrington

[BocaFriend]

Hope you'll report back about your experience!

B.T. is an icon and a national treasure! So grateful to JazzVideoGuy for posting these segments from Billy's shows.

[joeb434]

Man I never really watch this cat play even though I've been hearing about him for years. Billy Taylor is jazz elite! How'd he develop that technique with both hands? Hannon?

[FLCL2010]

I dont know but i heard a famous jazz pianist cant remeber who one of the big ones I think it was keith J say he played bebop heads with both hand alot. that may help if you actually play thats what im tryn to do now learning lots of heads.

[Sappyspartan]

billy taylor's one of the best musicians and is one of the people who has the best knowledge of jazz theory. although i'll have to say that he doesn't really have the BEST technique in his left hand.

[cavaleer]

Taylor's a brilliant cat. I don't think anyone else could make those giant RUB-DMC glasses look chic and sophisticated. Haha

[yMEson]

who is RUB-DMC

[ghostlord101]

Run spelt wrong?

[bamzegratteux]

Il est néanmoins épatant.

[bamzegratteux]

Il exploite des gammes bizarres, aussi bizarres que ses lunettes.

[willyvallez]

Justement . Billy taylor peut se vanter d'avoir un style musical unique .

[mikeandmike]

what scale is he using

[killjoytb]

all of them and some that don't and some of his own invention

[ndowney]

Billy Taylor is my mothers Uncle! I never really saw him play until I saw this video...

[iokuok2]

I've always wondered if it were possible to "de-syncopate" some piece like that, would it be country? (or would it be western?) (tee hee) God, Billy Taylor, you're sooooo good!!!

[detroitbuffalo]

Yow!!

[STANLIZ4]

Wonderful playing, just love it, never seen/heard Billy Taylor before, Utube enables easy access to fantastic talent previously unknown to some of us, brilliant!!!!

[Doromir]

What?! Billy Taylor is one of the all time greats! But he is probably better known as a teacher than as a performer

[tajto]

wow.. killer reharm at the end... i'd be impressed if it were two handed

[hugleberthumperdink]

id be impressed if twas four

[Stedan138]

Billy Taylor gave a short concert at my school when I was in he 3rd grade as he lived in the area and wanted the kids to know about different styles of music..That was in 1967 and he's still amazing..I'm now 50 and still listen to him..Thanks for posting

[JaredIsrael]

Goldeneh hendts!

[ilssonttousfous]

Billy Taylor is Great ! Thanks for sharing.

You might like to check out the young player Eric Meridiano on youtube too !

[phumlanimtiti]

beautiful pianist

[gomboso]

terrific, takes you right in.

[jazzyartist]

check out erroll garner, too

[selmoco]

Great!

Sometimes we happen to get in touch w jazz music,

and sometimes we start from Coltrane, or Jazz-Rock,

or Monk, and LATER we discover Ellington, Tristano,

Hines, the stride piano...B.T. carries a sort of

heritage-i.e. jazz from its origins to now-.

Listen to MONEY JUNGLE...

[Karen123424]

Wow, billy taylor is amazing! he must have years of practice, and i agree with paideuma, he is a beautiful player.

[1jazzsinga]

Who needs 2 hands anyway! That 1 hand intro was something. Great video, fantastic playing. thnx for sharing... this stellar video!

[Piloferreira]

amazing

[paideuma]

Billy Taylor is still one of jazz's best educators and a beautiful player.