John Taylor (25 September 1942 – 17 July 2015) was a British jazz pianist, born in Manchester, England, who occasionally performed on the organ and the synthesizer. In his obituary, The Guardian described him as "one of the great jazz pianists and composers of his generation" and at a musical level comparable to Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett, McCoy Tyner and Brad Meldhau.
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 recordings, 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 US 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 Weimar 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 While 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 (née de Courcy) 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 Date Line-up Album title Label Notes 1971 octet w/ Norma Winstone, Stan Sulzmann, John Surman, Kenny Wheeler, Chris Pyne, Chris Laurence, Tony Levin Pause, and Think Again Turtle produced by John Surman; re-released 1995 on FMR 1973 John Taylor Trio w/ Chris Laurence, Tony Levin Decipher MPS/BASF cd released in Japan in 1998, remastered in 2000 and again in 2016; German reissue in 2017 by edel 1991 John Taylor Trio w/ Mick Hutton, Steve Argüelles Blue Glass Ronnie Scott's Jazz House live recording 1992 w/ John Surman Ambleside Days Ah Um 1992 solo Solo Sentemo 2001 w/ The Creative Jazz Orchestra (octet w/ Julian and Steve Argüelles a.o.) Exits and Entrances Oh No! 2002 w/ Kenny Wheeler, Riccardo del Fra Overnight Sketch 2003 w/ Marc Johnson, Joey Baron Rosslyn ECM 2003 solo Insight Sketch 2005 solo Songs and Variations CAM Jazz 2005 w/ Steve Swallow, Gabriele Mirabassi New Old Age EGEA 2005 w/ Palle Danielsson, Martin France Angel of the Presence CAM Jazz 2007 w/ Palle Danielsson, Martin France Whirlpool CAM Jazz recorded 2005 2009 solo Phases CAM Jazz recorded 2006 2011 w/ Palle Danielsson, Martin France Requiem for a Dreamer CAM Jazz recorded 2008 2012 w/ Palle Danielsson, Martin France Giulia's Thursdays CAM Jazz recorded 2006 2014 solo In Two Minds CAM Jazz recorded 2011 2015 w/ Alex Taylor, Oren Marshall, Leo Taylor 2081 CAM Jazz recorded 2014
With Norma Winstone and/or Kenny Wheeler Date Artist Album title Label 1972 Norma Winstone (w/ large ensemble) Edge of Time Argo 1973 Kenny Wheeler (w/ large ensemble) Song for Someone Incus 1977 Azimuth Azimuth ECM 1978 Azimuth The Touchstone ECM 1979 Azimuth with Ralph Towner Départ ECM 1984 Kenny Wheeler (quintet) w/ Mike Brecker, Dave Holland, Jack DeJohnette Double, Double You ECM 1985 Azimuth Azimuth '85 ECM 1985, 1996 Norma Winstone, Kenny Wheeler, Paolo Fresu, John Taylor, Paolo Damiani, Tony Oxley Live at Roccella Jonica Ismez/Polis, Splasc(H) 1987 Norma Winstone (trio) w/ Tony Coe Somewhere Called Home ECM 1987 Kenny Wheeler Quintet w/ Stan Sulzmann, Dave Holland, Bill Elgart Flutter By, Butterfly Soul Note 1990 Kenny Wheeler (feat. Norma Winstone a.o.) Music for Large and Small Ensembles ECM 1990 Kenny Wheeler Quintet w/ John Abercrombie, Dave Holland, Peter Erskine The Widow in the Window ECM 1992 Kenny Wheeler (tentet; JT on three of seven tracks) Kayak Ah Um 1994 Azimuth How It Was Then... Never Again ECM 1997 Kenny Wheeler (quartet w/ Joe LaBarbera, Riccardo del Fra) All the More (rec. 1993) Soul Note 1997 Kenny Wheeler, John Taylor, Norma Winstone w/ The Maritime Jazz Orchestra Siren's Song Justin Time 1999 Norma Winstone & John Taylor (duo) Like Song, Like Weather (rec. 1996) Koch Jazz 1999 Kenny Wheeler (w/ large ensemble) A Long Time Ago ECM 2001 Kenny Wheeler (trio w/ Gabriele Mirabassi) Moon Egea 2002 The Maritime Jazz Orchestra feat. Kenny Wheeler, John Taylor, Norma Winstone Now and Now Again (rec. 1998) Justin Time 2005 Kenny Wheeler (duo) Where Do We Go from Here? CAM Jazz 2005 Kenny Wheeler (quartet w/ Chris Potter, Dave Holland) What Now? CAM Jazz 2011 Kenny Wheeler w/ Hugo Wolf String Quartet Other People CAM Jazz 2011 Kenny Wheeler (trio) w/ Steve Swallow One of Many CAM Jazz 2012 Kenny Wheeler Big Band The Long Waiting CAM Jazz 2013 Kenny Wheeler (sextet w/ Stan Sulzmann, Bobby Wellins) Six for Six (rec. 2008) CAM Jazz 2015 Kenny Wheeler (duo) On the Way to Two (rec. 2005) CAM Jazz
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 (for the most part), and the seldom guest appearances were not included. For initial alphabetical order of artists reload the page.