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Taylor, Billy, Sr.

April 26, 2020 By Michael Fitzgerald 2 Comments

Bassist and tubist. William Anderson Taylor, Sr. born April 3, 1905 [according to death certificate] in Washington, D.C.; died September 1, 1986 in Fairfax, Virginia.

Father of bassist Billy Taylor, Jr. No relation to pianist Dr. Billy Taylor. For much of his career he was known simply as Billy Taylor.

Moved to New York City in 1924. Played tuba with Duke Ellington in 1928 and then joined Ellington again playing bass from April 1934 to January 1940. For some of this time he was one of two bassists in the band, alongside Wellman Braud (to April 1935), Hayes Alvis (1935-1938), or later Jimmie Blanton (from October 1939). Taylor returned to Washington in the early 1950s.


Bibliography

7756 BillyTaylorSr items 1 chicago-fullnote-bibliography author asc https://jazzmf.com/wp/wp-content/plugins/zotpress/
Wallace, Steve. “Billy Taylor.” Duke Ellington Society of Sweden Bulletin 3 (September 2014): 4–8. https://ellingtonblog.files.wordpress.com/2016/04/dess_2014-3_bulletin.pdf.

Wiki Tags:
1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Fran Newman says

    July 13, 2021 at 9:28 pm

    I would very much like to get in touch with Billy’s family. My son is a direct descendant with his grandfather being Charles “Buddy” Taylor. Billy Sr. would be my son’s great grandfather.

    Reply
    • Jada Taylor says

      June 7, 2022 at 9:11 am

      Hi Fran,

      My grandfather is Leonard Taylor, so Billy Sr. is my great grandfather also. I would love to connect with you both and other members of our family also!

      Reply

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1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s

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