Billboard : 03/03/1958

Here’s another sock package by Taylor, whose polished, clean-cut pianistics are strong right now sales-wise. This LP marks wax debut of drummer Ed Thigpen (with the trio), hence the cover title. With Earl May on bass the group provides listenable, inventive jazz treatments of There Will Never Be Another You, The More I See You, etc.

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Cashbox : 03/15/1958

The three musicians offer the listener refreshingly inventive readings throughout the deck. Taylor’s melodic piano plus Earl May (bass) and Ed Thigpen add up to some mighty enjoyable listening. The group has a warm, soothing delivery that compliments anything they interpret. One of the standout numbers on the set is Titoro, an Afro-Cuban type tune where Thigpen contributes a healthy piece of drum work. Disk will sell in the jazz circles.

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Globe and Mail (Toronto, ON)
Barbara Whalen : 03/01/1958

Billy Taylor’s latest record The New Billy Taylor Trio, will be released in Canada soon on the Sparton label. It is his fifth record release in this country, though about 15 of his LP’s are on sale in the U.S.

The trio will appear at the Stratford Shakespearean Festival on Aug. 13, sharing the bill with Charmin’ Carmen McRae. The Taylor group will finish a week-long engagement at the Town Tavern tonight.

The trio includes Earl May on bass and Ed Thigpen on drums, replacing drummer Charlie Smith. It was this change in the trio that inspired the title of the new album.

Taylor is one of the few jazz musicians closely followed by jazz enthusiasts in the teen-aged group. His concerts and personal appearances are well attended by the new generation of jazz devotees, many of whom come armed with autograph books and pens.

The bespectacled, 36-year-old pianist began his musical studies with a goal of becoming a music teacher. Born in Washington, D.C., he studied with Henry Grant, who taught Duke Ellington. Though only 12 when he started with Grant, his interest in jazz began to grow.

Like most musical youngsters, he played in various groups while in high school. Billy completed his classical musical training, attaining a bachelor of science degree from a university in Virginia. He then moved to New York and has spent most of his time in that city since his graduation.

At the age of 18, he got one of his first breaks, playing piano with a group headed by Ben Webster.

After an eight-month tour of Europe with Don Redman, in which the group visited eight countries, Taylor returned to New York and formed a piano-organ group. The other man was Bob Wyatt, and the duo played around New York for a short period.

Taylor was next hired as house pianist at Birdland, playing with such greats as Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. “This was the most wonderful experience of my life,” he says. “I had to be able to play everything, from piano solos to arrangements with an 18-piece band, and once played opposite the entire Duke Ellington group.”

Billy was with Birdland for two years, and then decided to form his own group. The first trio included Charles Mingus on bass and Charlie Smith on drums. Mingus was later replaced by May.

They manage to stay in the New York area from between six and seven months each year. During his tours, Billy generally plays Toronto twice a year. The only other Canadian city he plays is Hull, Que.

“I don’t like road work,” he says. “It’s physically impossible to practice when you’re on the road. Besides, New York is my home, and I like to stay home as much as possible.” His wife and their two children, Duane, 6, and 2-year-old Kim, may influence his stay-at-home attitude.

Billy writes and arranges music as well as playing it. About 80 percent of the group’s repertoire is spontaneous in nature or uses skeletal arrangements. The rest is arranged completely or partially.

Besides writing music, Billy writes about music. His articles about jazz have appeared in the major magazines of the industry. He also lectures on the subject.

His most recent project is a 13-week television series for NBC, to be called The Sound of Jazz. Taylor is musical director of the show which starts on March 26.

Though he is established as a professional musician he still practices two hours a day when he is at home.

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Miami Herald (Miami, FL)
Fred Sherman : 08/03/1958

For some other recent and choice piano work, don’t pass up the new Billy Taylor Trio (ABC-Paramount 226). The “new” is supplied by drummer Edmund Thigpen. Earl May is familiar on the bass. Nobody can touch Taylor in the piano trio world. Nice to have only eight tunes here. The opener is an exciting treatment of There Will Never Be Another You. The ballad has never had so much poured into it. A must album for Taylor fans.

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Oakland Tribune (Oakland, CA)
Russ Wilson : 03/02/1958

The 30,000 music teachers in the nation’s public schools seem to have made up their minds that jazz is part of the warp and woof of our cultural life.

They took firm if belated cognizance of this two years ago in St. Louis at the biennial meeting of the Music Educators National Conference. There, for the first time in the organization’s 50-year existence, a section on jazz was part of the program.

Evidently the pioneering panel, which included Oaklander Dave Brubeck, did a good job. Next month in Los Angeles, jazz again will be on the educators’ convention agenda. This time they will hear a talk on teaching techniques by jazz pianist Billy Taylor, whose trio will demonstrate some of his ideas. The combo, which is making its first visit to the West Coast, begins a two-week stay at the Blackhawk in San Francisco on Tuesday.

Taylor is no stranger to jazz or to pedagogy. Born in Greenville, N.C. 36 years ago he took his Bachelor of Music degree at Virginia State College in 1942. A few months later he began working with various New York jazz groups, was pianist with Dizzy Gillespie’s first big band, a member of Machito’s Afro-Cuban orchestra, and Erroll Garner’s replacement with Slam Stewart’s Trio. Following a 1946 trip to Europe with Don Redman’s band Taylor formed a quartet which Artie Shaw fronted in 1950 and called his Gramercy Five. For the next two years Taylor was house pianist at Birdland, appearing with such as Gillespie, Roy Eldridge, Slim Gaillard, Terry Gibbs, Lee Konitz, and Gerry Mulligan.

When he formed his trio in 1952, it started a two-week engagement in a New York club, was held over for a year.

Between appearances as jazz musician, Taylor has written eight books on piano instruction, has lectured at Columbia University and other colleges, and has written about jazz for national magazines. Over the years he has won a reputation for articulateness and erudition as well as for musicianship. The most recent tribute is paid him by pianist Marian McPartland in her liner notes for his latest album:

The New Billy Taylor Trio (ABC Paramount), which is so titled because drummer Ed Thigpen is making his LP debut with the group, whose other member is left-handed bassist Earl May. The eight tracks include two originals (Titoro is principally a display case for Thigpen’s interesting ideas), several ballads-for which Taylor has a special felicity-and some numbers that shoot sparks. Taylor is exciting, warm, and technically brilliant -and plays with a good swinging feeling, as Miss McPartland points out. And a fine group feeling always is evident.

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San Bernardino County Sun (San Bernardino, CA)
Jim Angelo : 04/05/1958
Album of the Week

Here’s a crisp, modern session which spotlights the sparkling Taylor technique and taste. Nothing frantic or “far out” here — just a pleasant mixture of standards and originals deftly delivered with warmth and imagination. Drummer Thigpen, who has recently joined the group, adds to the “in person” sound that marks this recording. Tasty tracks include There Will Never Be Another You, There’s A Small Hotel, The More I See You, and Round Midnight. This should attract all jazzophiles regardless of affiliation.

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San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco, CA)
Ralph J. Gleason : 03/23/1958

Bright, swinging piano-solos-with-rhythm by Taylor and his men. Included are Will You Still Be Mine? and There Will Never Be Another You, two of the best ballads around. Fine listening.

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White Plains Reporter Dispatch (White Plains, NY)
Ted Riedeburg : 07/16/1958

The New Billy Taylor Trio, with Earl May, bass, and Ed Thigpen drums, can be heard on a recent ABC Paramount release (ABC-226). We’ve always considered Taylor to be one of the most expressive and fluid pianists in the business, and his playing on this set gives us flashes of what can be expected of him as he moves through tunes such as There Will Never Be Another You, The More I See You, ‘Round Midnight, and There’s a Small Hotel. In all honesty, however, we must mention that his tendency to over-modernize his style during the past year or so has taken away some of the breeziness which infused his approach to improvisations in the past. If you want to prove the point, dig out some of Billy’s old 78s on Prestige-like They Can’t Take That Away From Me, and do some comparing.

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Down Beat : 05/01/1958
Don Gold : 4 stars

In her liner notes for this LP, pianist Marian McPartland appraises Taylor’s ability. She states, “He has refined and chiseled his style with loving care, like the excellent craftsman that he is … It is polished, elegant, yet always contains the basic element essential in jazz—a good swinging feeling.”

This polish, elegance, and swing characterize this LP. Taylor commands his instrument. His playing is freshly impressive, without being studied. His taste is excellent. Banality rarely soils his efforts. He is one of the few pianists who can remain relaxed at up tempos, without having to press. And his ballads are balladic, not meaningless cascades of notes. He sees into a song.

Each tune in this LP is given an appropriate treatment. Another is brightly paced. Taylor’s Sounds is an exotically introduced blues, played directly. More is played as a ballad, delicately, but without elaborate ornamentation. Mine is up tempo but never frenzied. Monk’s classic is given a balladic interpretation, with “taste and care,” as Mrs. McPartland states it. Hotel is unhurried, too, doing justice to its melodic nature. Bob Haymes’ Enough is an attractive tune, played flowingly at medium tempo. The closer, Taylor’s Titoro, is the longest track (6:58) and features an extended solo by Thigpen.

Southpaw May supports and solos authoritatively. Thigpen continues to be an exhilarating drummer; his solos are delightful explorations. Joining with Taylor, they form one of the most unified trios in jazz.

There is no attempt made here to etch a new groove. Rather, it is indicative of a significant groove being preserved. This is professionalism in jazz and, as such, is recommended.

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Liner Notes by Marian McPartland

I first heard Billy Taylor play at Birdland a few years ago when he was working there with several different groups. Jo Jones usually played drums, and either Oscar Pettiford or Clyde Lombardi alternated on bass, and then different horn players would come in and work with the trio. I was very impressed by Billy’s excellent taste and technique, also I recall that he would announce all the tunes in a friendly informal, yet concise way, and I liked that very much, because there seemed to be so few musicians around who cared to let the audience in on what they were doing. Billy was then, and is today, one of the most articulate and erudite people in our business, and he continues to win more and more acclaim for his sparkling, clear-cut piano style.

There are many adjectives one could apply to Billy’s playing -it is exciting, warm and technically brilliant. He has a lot to say, and he says it from one end of the piano to the other interpolating fugue-like variations into many of his up-tempo tunes. He executes satin-smooth scale passages with equal facility in either hand (I’m Jealous!) and a firm yet delicate touch. He has refined and chiseled his style with loving care, like the excellent craftsman that he is, so that it resembles a finely cut diamond. It is polished, elegant, yet always contains the basic element essential in jazz a good swinging feeling.

This album marks the début of Billy’s drummer Ed Thigpen; hence, the cover title. Although Ed has made previous recordings with Billy and a larger group, these are his first sides with the trio. I think this record comes as close as anything I have heard in achieving that “in person” sound, which is so important and yet so hard to get across, from the cold confines of a recording studio. There is nothing tremendously “frantic” or “far-out” about this music the tunes are carefully chosen and unhackneyed. Billy is a talented and prolific composer, and two of his own originals are included here – Sounds in the Night and Titoro. I have a feeling that the latter might have been inspired by that old tune Allah’s Holiday. At all events, it is a simple theme, given Afro-Cuban treatment, and used in this instance mainly as a showcase for Ed Thigpen, who proves himself to be a drummer of considerable ability, and one who can make a five-minute drum solo sound interesting and alive. To me, he is one of the most swinging, thoughtful, and imaginative players I have heard, and he complements Billy beautifully at all times. Sounds in the Night develops from a moody introduction to a wailing blues in F, which moves into a bass solo and ends with the same eerie minor theme. This is very effective, I think.

I love the way the trio plays ‘Round About Midnight: such a great tune, and it is performed here with taste and care. I don’t like to hear a ballad played in too “Funky” a way: I believe the mood is lost when the drummer starts playing double-time, and interpolating too many rhythmic and percussive devices. A ballad is a ballad; and I’m an incurable romantic, I guess! To my way of thinking, ‘Round About Midnight and The More I See You, played simply but with beautifully enriched harmony, say all there is to be said. Billy’s rather slow version of Small Hotel is pleasant after hearing so many up-tempo arrangements of the tune. I Never Get Enough of You is new to me: I may steal this one! The group builds excitingly on There’ll Never be Another You: the third chorus especially has a good feeling. Notice the crafty little fragment of Rain on The Roof in the fifth chorus during the drum fours!

Billy says he chose this particular take of Will You Still be Mine because it was the shortest one and had the most relaxed feeling. Sometimes it is hard to choose the best take: one can become confused listening to tapes over and over and trying to decide which is the right one. In this case I’m sure Billy made a good choice: his playing is exciting throughout. Earl May gets the longest sound in life! And those low notes! Did you ever see a left-handed bassist? It’s fascinating to watch: you feel as if you’re looking at him in the mirror. One of the things I notice about Earl is how greatly he has progressed since I first heard him with Billy in The Downbeat Room about four years ago. He’s so happy-looking too. Come to think of it, it’s a very happy trio, and I respect the professional attitude these three musicians maintain toward their work; they play as a team!

Willie Shaw, who, with Cy Baron, owns the Composer Room where Billy frequently plays, said admiringly: ” Billy and the boys play great, all night, every set, no matter if the room is busy or not or whether it’s noisy or quiet, they’re real Performers.” This from a club-owner, of all people, is praise indeed!

It reminds me of an occasion when Billy came to see me at the Hickory House a couple of years ago, and I prevailed upon him to sit in with Bill Crow and Joe Morello. He played his own Tune for Tes and it was one of the most inspired performances I have ever heard; we still talk about it. Having pleasant memories such as these makes listening to Billy Taylor on record even more enjoyable than if I had never heard him in Person.

This is an album to be listened to not once, but many times, and with each fresh hearing you will notice certain degrees of shading, and little nuances that may have passed you by, in earlier playings. This is why listening to music is so fascinating and absorbing, the more you listen, the more you hear. And where The Billy Taylor Trio is concerned, the more you listen, the more you want to hear!