John Taylor (jazz)
John Taylor was a British jazz pianist born in Manchester, England, who occasionally performed on the organ and the synthesizer.
Early life
John Taylor was a self taught pianist. With his family, he moved from Manchester, first to the Midlands and then to Hastings where he played locally. In 1964 Taylor became a civil servant, moved to London and became involved in the free jazz scene.Performing career
Taylor first came to the attention of the jazz community in 1969 when he partnered with saxophonists Alan Skidmore and John Surman. He was later reunited with Surman in the short-lived group Morning Glory and in the 1980s with Miroslav Vitous's quartet.In the early 1970s, Taylor was accompanist to the singer Cleo Laine and started to compose for his own sextet. He also worked with many visiting artists at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in London, and later became a member of Scott's quintet.
In 1977 Taylor formed the trio Azimuth, with Norma Winstone and Kenny Wheeler. On some of the group's recording Taylor played synthesiser and organ. The group was described by Richard Williams as "one of the most imaginatively conceived and delicately balanced contemporary chamber-jazz groups". The trio made several recordings for ECM Records and performed in Europe, the USA and Canada.
The 1980s saw Taylor working with groups led by Jan Garbarek, Enrico Rava, Gil Evans, Lee Konitz and Charlie Mariano as well as performing in duos with Tony Coe and Steve Argüelles. Composing projects included a commission for the English choir Cantamus Girls Choir with Lee Konitz and Steve Argüelles and pieces for the Hannover Radio Orchestra with Stan Sulzmann. Taylor also performed on David Sylvian's song "Laughter and Forgetting", on which Kenny Wheeler also featured.
From 2006, Taylor was a member of Kenny Wheeler's quartet and large ensemble and performed in duo and quartet settings with John Surman; their recording of Ambleside Days on ahum won critical acclaim. In 1996 Taylor played organ on Surman's choral work Proverbs and Songs from Salisbury Cathedral, later released on ECM Records. During the 1990s he made several recordings also for ECM with Peter Erskine's trio with Palle Danielsson on bass.
In 2000 Taylor made a new collaboration with Azimuth and the Smith Quartet for the Weimer Festival. Also in that year he recorded Verso with Maria Pia De Vito and Ralph Towner.
Taylor celebrated his 60th birthday in 2002 with a Contemporary Music Network Tour in which he presented his new trio with drummer Joey Baron and Marc Johnson on bass. The tour also featured the Creative Jazz Orchestra playing Taylor's composition "The Green Man Suite". In July 2002 Taylor received the BBC Jazz Award for 'Best New Work' for this suite.
Taylor's trio recording with Johnson and Baron was released early in 2003, and September 2003 saw the release of his solo CD Insight on Sketch. John Fordham wrote in The Guardian: "This is one of contemporary jazz's great performers at work... a beautiful solo statement by a very modest star." In 2004 Taylor recorded Where Do We Go from Here? in duo with Kenny Wheeler and Nightfall with bassist Charlie Haden. They subsequently performed at the Montreal International Jazz Festival. Also that year Taylor formed a new trio with Palle Danielsson and Martin France. They performed at the Vancouver Jazz Festival and recorded Angel of the Presence for CAM Jazz. This recording was released in January 2006 to coincide with their UK tour and has received critical acclaim.
Keyboard style
Whilst Taylor's unique piano style drew on the whole of the jazz pallette and considerable influence from classical music, his approach was characterised by a sophisticated and advanced rhythmic and harmonic sensibility. Rhythmically he specialised in asymmetrical meters and in employing "drumming" patterns on the keyboard. Harmonically, he significantly developed and expanded the harmonic vocabulary of musicians such as Bill Evans and Gil Evans.Teaching
Taylor was professor of Jazz Piano at the Cologne College of Music from 1993 onwards, and became a Lecturer in jazz at University of York in 2005. He coached and taught undergraduate jazz musicians and was of central importance to the new master's degree jazz pathway and in advancing doctoral research and performance in jazz.Family
Taylor was married to jazz vocalist Norma Winstone from 1972 until their divorce. The couple had two sons: Leo Taylor, a drummer with indie rock band The Invisible; and Alex Taylor, a singer/songwriter. John Taylor was married to Diana until her death in 2004 from cancer and his subsequent marriage to childhood sweetheart Carol Weston lasted for the rest of his life.Death
Taylor died on 17 July 2015, following a heart attack he suffered while performing at the Saveurs Jazz Festival in Segré, France. Although he was resuscitated at the venue, he died after being taken to hospital.Discography
As leader
With [Norma Winstone] and/or [Kenny Wheeler]
As co-leader and sideman
Line-ups in brackets indicate that names or format are not mentioned on the album front cover. Recordings with artists without wiki entry, and the seldom guest appearances were not included. For initial alphabetical order of artists reload the page.| Date | Artist | Album title | Label |
| 1981 | Arild Andersen w/ Bill Frisell, Alphonse Mouzon | A Molde Concert | ECM |
| 1975 | Neil Ardley, Ian Carr, Mike Gibbs and Stan Tracey | Will Power - A Shakespeare Birthday Celebration in Music | Argo |
| 1991 | Julian Argüelles | Phaedrus | Ah Um |
| 2014 | Julian Argüelles | Circularity | CAM Jazz |
| 2013 | Pierluigi Balducci w/ Paul McCandless & Michele Rabbia | Blue from Heaven | Dodicilune |
| 2017 | Pierluigi Balducci, Paul McCandless & Michele Rabbia | Evansiana | Dodicilune |
| 1970 | Harry Beckett | Flare Up | Philips |
| 1971 | Harry Beckett | Warm Smiles | RCA Victor |
| 1972 | Harry Beckett's S & R Powerhouse Sections | Themes for Fega | RCA Victor |
| 2009 | Tore Brunborg, Thomas Strønen as Meadow | Blissful Ignorance | Hecca |
| 1993 | Ian Carr | Sounds and Sweet Airs | Celestial Harmonies |
| 2015 | Hayden Chisholm | Breve | Pirouet |
| 1970 | Graham Collier | Songs for My Father | Fontana |
| 1970 | Mike Cooper | Trout Steel | Dawn |
| 1972 | Paolo Damiani's Musica Muta Orchestra | Annìnnìa | Ismez/Polis |
| 1972 | John Dankworth Big Band | Full Circle | Philips |
| 1998 | Maria Pia de Vito | Phoné | Egea |
| 2000 | Maria Pia de Vito, Ralph Towner | Verso | Provocateur |
| 2000 | Maria Pia de Vito | Nel respiro | Provocateur |
| 1978 | Martin Drew Band | British Jazz Artists Vol. 3 | Lee Lambert |
| 1979 | Jon Eardley | Namely Me | Spotlite |
| 1992 | Peter Erskine w/ Palle Danielsson | You Never Know | ECM |
| 1993 | Peter Erskine w/ Palle Danielsson | Time Being | ECM |
| 1994 | Peter Erskine w/ Palle Danielsson | As It Is | ECM |
| 1999 | Peter Erskine w/ Palle Danielsson | Juni | ECM |
| 1983 | Gil Evans | The British Orchestra | Mole Jazz |
| 2006 | Mark Feldman | What Exit | ECM |
| 1993 | Paolo Fresu w/ Furio di Castri | EncontroS | Egea |
| 1977 | Jan Garbarek | Places | ECM |
| 1978 | Jan Garbarek | Photo with Blue Sky, White Cloud, Wires, Windows and a Red Roof | ECM |
| 1971 | Mike Gibbs Band | Tanglewood 63 | Deram |
| 1972 | Mike Gibbs | Just Ahead | Polydor |
| 1993 | Mike Gibbs Orchestra | By the Way | Ah Um |
| 2018 | Mike Gibbs Band | Nightfall | Naim |
| 1970 | Don "Sugarcane" Harris | Keep on Driving | MPS/BASF |
| 1988 | Lee Konitz | Songs of the Stars | Jazz House |
| 1971 | Volker Kriegel | Spectrum | MPS/BASF |
| 1972 | Volker Kriegel | Inside: Missing Link | MPS/BASF |
| 1973 | Volker Kriegel | Lift! | MPS/BASF |
| 1971 | Cleo Laine with the John Dankworth Quartet | Cleo Laine in Australia | World Record Club |
| 1973 | Bobby Lamb and the Keymen | Bobby Lamb and the Keymen | BBC |
| 2011 | Marilyn Mazur w/ Josefine Cronholm & Anders Jormin | Celestial Circle | ECM |
| 1991 | Nick Purnell | Onetwothree | Ah Um |
| 1987 | Enrico Rava as Rava | Secrets | Soul Note |
| 1971 | Frank Ricotti & Michael de Albuquerque | First Wind | Pegasus |
| 1977 | Ronnie Scott's Quintet | Serious Gold | Pye |
| 1969 | Alan Skidmore Quintet | Once Upon a Time | Deram |
| 1970 | Alan Skidmore Quintet | TCB | Philips |
| 2003 | Tommy Smith Sextet | Evolution | Spartacus |
| 1981 | Soft Machine | Land of Cockayne | EMI |
| 1970 | Splinter | Harder to Live | Dark Horse |
| 1979 | Louis Stewart w/ Sam Jones and Billy Higgins | I Thought About You | Livia |
| 1987 | Stan Sulzmann | Everybody's Song but My Own? | Loose Tubes |
| 1988 | Stan Sulzmann, Frank Ricotti, Tony Hymas, Chris Laurence | Aspects of Paragonne | MMC/EMI |
| 2016 | Stan Sulzmann | Double Exposure | InVersion |
| 1970 | John Surman | How Many Clouds Can You See? | Deram |
| 1971 | John Surman, Barre Phillips, Stu Martin as The Trio | Conflagration | Dawn |
| 1971 | John Surman / John Warren | Tales of the Algonquin | Deram |
| 1972 | John Surman, Alan Skidmore, Tony Oxley a.o. | Jazz in Britain '68–'69 | Decca Eclipse |
| 1973 | John Surman | Morning Glory | Island |
| 1993 | John Surman Quartet | Stranger Than Fiction | ECM |
| 1996 | John Surman | Proverbs and Songs | ECM |
| 2005 | John Surman | Way Back When | Cuneiform |
| 1995 | Steve Swallow | Parlance | Instant Present |
| 2008 | Diana Torto w/ Anders Jormin | Triangoli | Egea/Astarte |
| 1993, 1997 | Colin Towns Mask Orchestra w/ Skidmore, Surman, Nigel Hitchcock a.o. | Mask Orchestra | The Jazz Label, Provocateur |
| 1982 | Miroslav Vitouš | Journey's End | ECM |
| 1998 | Eric Vloeimans w/ Marc Johnson and Joey Baron | Bitches and Fairy Tales | Challenge |
| 2000 | Eric Vloeimans w/ di Castri and Joe LaBarbera | Umai | Challenge |
| 1973 | Ray Warleigh w/ Ron Mathewson, Frank Gibson | Reverie | Vinyl |
| 1971 | Mike Westbrook Orchestra | Metropolis | Neon/RCA Victor |