Dr. Billy Taylor Honored at Kennedy Center

John Murph, Downbeat Magazine, 11/21/2011

It’s difficult to touch upon the many achievements of the late Dr. Billy Taylor, whose career as a world-renowned pianist, composer, educator, advocate and broadcaster spanned more than half a century.

Performers at the Kennedy Center in Washington tackled these issues nobly during “Jazz On The Elevens: A Tribute To Billy Taylor.” The moniker denotes the significant concert date—Nov. 11, 2011, which was also Veterans Day. Prior to the Taylor tribute, Howard University vocal ensemble Afro-Blue began the evening with moving renditions of “The Star-Spangled Banner” and “Lift Every Voice And Sing.”

The Eisenhower Theater hosted a rotating cast of luminaries, steered by bassist Chip Jackson and drummer Winard Harper, Taylor’s superb rhythm section during much of his latter career. Before launching into an agreeable reading of Taylor’s “One For The Woofer,” trumpeter Terence Blanchard joked that the evening would be overloaded with pianists. And sure enough, five pianists—Geri Allen, Cyrus Chestnut, Danilo Pérez, Toshiko Akiyoshi and 22-year-old Taylor protégé Christian Sands—took turns in the piano chair.

Blanchard, Chestnut and the rhythm section rendered the swinging bebop number with professional proficiency but without the passion to lift the song from the music stand. It was a bit perplexing to see Blanchard as the sole horn player that evening. Sadly, Taylor’s childhood friend, saxophonist Frank Wess, was scheduled to perform but had to cancel due to illness.

The evening began to hit its stride when Allen, the concert’s musical director, joined vocalist Carmen Lundy in a misty reading of “There Will Never Be Another You.” Lundy mesmerized with her languid and dynamic phrasing as she extended certain lines without melismatic melodrama. The concert loosened up when Pérez performed Taylor’s spirited Afro-Latin composition “Titoro.” Pérez’s invigorating improvisations, paired with Harper’s explosive drum solo, conveyed a conviction that some performances lacked. The first half of the concert reached an apex when all five pianists took to the stage, performing on three pianos alongside Blanchard and the rhythm section during roadhouse reading of Taylor’s “It’s A Grand Night For Swinging.”

For the second half of the evening, performances were complemented by video vignettes of Taylor. They included interviews on CBS’s “Good Morning America” and a 2004 Coca-Cola commercial that featured his most famous composition, “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free,” along with photo montages of the civil rights movement and his family. The true highlight of the second set, however, was the sterling performance of Taylor’s “Peaceful Warrior,” a three-part suite the pianist wrote for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Afro-Blue’s poignant performances of “It’s A Matter Of Pride” and “If You Really Are Concerned” nearly upstaged the pianists with their luxurious harmonies and effortless swing. Also during the “Peaceful Warrior” suite, opera singer Harolyn Blackwell delivered a rousing interpretation of “His Name Was Martin.”

During the finale, everyone gathered for a reprise of Taylor’s signature tune. Though the tribute fell flat on minor occasions, it succeeded greatly in honoring Taylor as a composer—one of his gifts that’s often overlooked.

—John Murph