Art Taylor

Arthur S. Taylor, Jr. (April 6, 1929 – February 6, 1995) was an American jazz drummer who "helped define the sound of modern jazz drumming".

Career
As a teenager, Taylor joined a local Harlem band that featured Sonny Rollins, Jackie McLean and Kenny Drew. After playing in the bands of Howard McGhee (1948), Coleman Hawkins (1950–51), Buddy DeFranco (1952), Bud Powell (1953), George Wallington and Art Farmer (1954), Powell and Wallington again (1954–55), Gigi Gryce and Donald Byrd (1956), he formed his own group, Taylor's Wailers. Between 1957 and 1963 he toured with Donald Byrd, recorded with Miles Davis and John Coltrane, and performed with Thelonious Monk; he also was a member of the original Kenny Dorham Quartet of 1957.

In 1963 he moved to Europe, where he lived mainly in France and Belgium for 20 years, playing with local groups and jazz musicians such as Johnny Griffin, John Bodwin and with travelling American musicians such as Woody Shaw during the latter's tenure in Paris. He continued freelancing after returning to the United States, and in 1993 organized a second band called Taylor's Wailers. He died in Beth Israel Hospital in Manhattan.

He is the author of Notes and Tones, a book based on his interviews with other musicians.

As leader

 * Taylor's Wailers, 1956, Prestige
 * Taylor's Tenors, 1959, Prestige
 * A.T.'s Delight, 1960, Blue Note
 * Mr. A.T., 1991, Enja
 * Wailin' At The Vanguard, 1992, Verve

As sideman
With Gene Ammons With Dorothy Ashby With Kenny Burrell With Donald Byrd With Paul Chambers With Sonny Clark With James Clay With Arnett Cobb With Pepper Adams, et al. With John Coltrane With Continuum With Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis With Miles Davis With Walter Davis Jr. With Kenny Dorham With Art Farmer With Red Garland With Matthew Gee With Benny Golson With Dexter Gordon With Bennie Green With Johnny Griffin With Tiny Grimes With Gigi Gryce With Ernie Henry With Elmo Hope and Frank Foster With Milt Jackson With Thad Jones With Clifford Jordan With Duke Jordan With Jackie McLean With Lee Morgan With The Prestige All Stars With Julian Priester With Dizzy Reece With Charlie Rouse With Jimmy Smith With Johnny "Hammond" Smith With Louis Smith With Sonny Stitt With Clark Terry With Toots Thielmans With Stanley Turrentine With Mal Waldron With Randy Weston With Kai Winding & J. J. Johnson
 * The Happy Blues (Prestige, 1956)
 * Jammin' with Gene (Prestige, 1956)
 * Funky (Prestige, 1957)
 * Jammin' in Hi Fi with Gene Ammons (Prestige, 1957)
 * The Big Sound (Prestige, 1958)
 * Groove Blues (Prestige, 1958)
 * Blue Gene (Prestige, 1958)
 * Boss Tenor (Prestige, 1960)
 * Velvet Soul (Prestige, 1960 [1964])
 * Angel Eyes (Prestige, 1960 [1965])
 * Up Tight! (Prestige, 1961)
 * Boss Soul! (Prestige, 1961)
 * In a Minor Groove (New Jazz, 1958)
 * Hip Harp (Prestige, 1958)
 * All Night Long (Prestige, 1956)
 * All Day Long (Prestige, 1957)
 * 2 Guitars - with Jimmy Raney (Prestige, 1957)
 * 2 Trumpets (Prestige, 1956) - with Art Farmer
 * Jazz Eyes (Regent, 1957) - with John Jenkins
 * Off to the Races (Blue Note, 1958)
 * Byrd in Hand (Blue Note, 1959)
 * Bass on Top (1957)
 * Sonny's Crib (Blue Note, 1957)
 * The Sound of the Wide Open Spaces!!!! (Riverside, 1960) - with David "Fathead" Newman
 * Party Time (Prestige, 1959)
 * More Party Time (Prestige, 1960)
 * Movin' Right Along (Prestige, 1960)
 * Baritones and French Horns (1957)
 * Wheelin' & Dealin' (1957)
 * Trane's Blues (1957)
 * The Dealers (1957)
 * Black Pearls (1958)
 * Lush Life (1958)
 * The Believer (1958)
 * Settin' the Pace (1958)
 * The Last Trane (1958)
 * Jazz Way Out (1958)
 * Soultrane (1958)
 * Giant Steps (1959)
 * ''Bahia (1964)
 * Alternate Takes (1975)
 * Mad About Tadd (1980, Palo Alto Records)
 * Goin' to the Meeting (Prestige, 1962)
 * Miles Ahead (1957)
 * Davis Cup (1959)
 * Show Boat (1960)
 * The Art Farmer Septet Prestige, 1953-54)
 * When Farmer Met Gryce (Prestige, 1955) - with Gigi Gryce
 * A Garland of Red (Prestige, 1956)
 * Red Garland Revisited! (Prestige, 1957 [1969])
 * The P.C. Blues (Prestige 1956-57 [1970])
 * Groovy (Prestige, 1956-57)
 * All Mornin' Long (Prestige, 1957)
 * Soul Junction (Prestige, 1957)
 * High Pressure (Prestige, 1957 [1962])
 * The Red Garland Trio (Moodsville, 1958 [1960])
 * All Kinds of Weather (Prestige, 1958)
 * The Red Garland Trio + Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis (Moodsville, 1959)
 * Halleloo-Y'-All (Prestige, 1960)
 * Jazz by Gee (Riverside, 1956)
 * Gettin' with It (New Jazz, 1959)
 * Free (Argo, 1962)
 * One Flight Up (Blue Note, 1964)
 * A Day in Copenhagen (MPS, 1969) - with Slide Hampton
 * Hornful of Soul (1960)
 * Do Nothing 'til You Hear from Me (Riverside, 1963)
 * Tiny in Swingville (Swingville, 1959) - with Jerome Richardson
 * Jazz Lab (Columbia, 1957) - with Donald Byrd
 * Gigi Gryce and the Jazz Lab Quintet (Riverside, 1957)
 * Modern Jazz Perspective (Columbia, 1957) - with Donald Byrd
 * Presenting Ernie Henry (Riverside, 1956)
 * Hope Meets Foster (Prestige, 1955)
 * Bags & Flutes (Atlantic, 1957)
 * After Hours (Prestige, 1957)
 * Cliff Jordan (Blue Note, 1957)
 * Flight to Jordan (1960)
 * Lights Out! (1956)
 * 4,5&6 (1956)
 * McLean's Scene (1957)
 * Alto Madness (1957)
 * Strange Blues (1957)
 * A Long Drink Of The Blues (1959)
 * Makin'The Changes (1959)
 * Swing, Swang, Swingin' (1959)
 * Capuchin Swing (1960)
 * Introducing Lee Morgan (1956)
 * City Lights (1957)
 * Candy (1957)
 * Interplay for 2 Trumpets and 2 Tenors (Prestige, 1957)
 * Spiritsville (Jazzland, 1960)
 * Blues in Trinity (1958)
 * Takin' Care of Business (Jazzland, 1960)
 * Damn! (Verve, 1995)
 * Talk That Talk (New Jazz, 1960)
 * Open House (Riverside, 1963)
 * Here Comes Louis Smith (Blue Note, 1958)
 * Stitt Meets Brother Jack (Prestige, 1962) - with Jack McDuff
 * Top and Bottom Brass (Riverside, 1959)
 * Man Bites Harmonica! (Riverside, 1957)
 * ZT's Blues (1961)
 * Mal-2 (1957)
 * African Cookbook (Polydor [France], 1969)
 * Niles Littlebig (Polydor [France], 1969)
 * The Great Kai & J. J. (Impulse!, 1960)