High Fidelity : September 1955

Billy Taylor is an unusually capable pianist who has disdained stylistic eccentricities in favor of well integrated, clearly defined performances. Probably it is this lack of a convenient personality handle, that has made recognition so slow in coming. Except for Art Tatum’s, Taylor has a more highly developed technique than any other pianist on the jazz scene. He also has taste and imagination and a compelling jazz sense. Without being in any sense emulative, his playing in this group of original numbers is reminiscent of Tatum for its steady flow of ideas, for the deceptive ease with which these ideas are carried out, and for the high interest level that they maintain. The sound is good, too.

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Providence Journal
Philip C. Gunion – 10/23/1955

The stamp of genius is evident in A Touch of Taylor, Prestige Records’ 12-inch LP album of the Billy Taylor Trio, in which Taylor plays his tasteful, forceful piano with Earl May on bass and Percy Brice on drums.

The trio swings from outside to inside, and 10 of the 12 pieces were composed by Billy. They run from ballads to up-tempo, full of technique matched only by the group’s feeling.

Taylor still holds the record for long runs at Birdland, the New York jazz garage – a modest two years. This album reflects his imaginative ability, a tasty touch of Taylor.

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San Antonio Light – San Antonio, TX
Renwicke Cary – 09/18/1955

A Touch of Taylor, a 12-inch Prestige disc, brings you the Billy Taylor trio in a stunning performance of 12 tunes, which, with a couple of exceptions, are imaginative Taylor originals: Radioactivity, Early Bird, Live It Up, etc. Easily one of the most stylish of present day jazz pianists, Taylor swings majestically upon the up-tempo pieces, casts a magic spell with his mood music. Earl May is the bassist, Percy Brice the drummer.

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San Francisco Chronicle – San Francisco, CA
Ralph J. Gleason – 09/11/1955

Prestige also has a fine new 12-inch LP of the excellent pianist Billy Taylor, A Touch of Taylor. Again a first-rate job of recording adds a blessing to a good performance by the musicians. Taylor is one of the best pianists playing today, but, for some reason, he has yet to achieve the acclaim due him. This album, one of the best piano packages of the year, should help remedy that quickly.

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Star Tribune – Minneapolis, MN
Ed Goodpaster – 10/31/1955

Billy Taylor, one of the freshest, most original pianists around today, does something unusual on a A Touch Of Taylor, a 12-inch Prestige LP. He dedicates 12 tunes to various disk jockeys for us as theme or background music. None of the disk jockeys is from the Upper Midwest. Too bad, it would be nice to hear music like Taylor’s once in a while on the radio.

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Tampa Bay Times – St. Petersburg, FL
Chick Ober – 10/23/1955

Billy Taylor, who is perhaps woefully underrated, gets a chance to prove his real merit as a pianist with his latest Prestige LP, a 12-incher titled A Touch of Taylor. A musician, who set a record at Birdland for the longest unbroken appearance (two years), Billy not only swings constantly but has a technique that provides a superior piano sound. His arrangements are original and winning. You’ll like his Purple Mood, Blue Cloud, Daddy-O, Every So Easy, and Day Dreaming.

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The Virginian-Pilot – Norfolk, VA
Robert C. Smith – 11/13/1955
Billy Taylor: Unacademic Piano Style

Billy Taylor is a scholarly young man with a style on that piano far removed from what you might expect form an academician. In fact, Taylor, along with Tatum and Peterson of the moderns, represents the tap root approach on the contemporary scene, the attachment to the jazz verities as the only basis for continue improvisation. Billy’s warm, varied attack is demonstrated amply on Prestige’s 12-inch LP A Touch of Taylor. Backed by bassist Earl May and drummer Percy Brice, Billy romps through nine of his originals plus a few others, demonstrating always an uncluttered approach, a fine interpretive sense, a way through every tempo. À bientôt is a lovely composition of his heard here, as is Early Bird, which has nothing to do with the proverb and everything to do with a stage in Charlie Parker‘s development. The tunes in this set are dedicated to the more dedicated disc jockeys.

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Down Beat : 06/29/1955
Nat Hentoff : 5 stars

The first 12″ LP for both the Billy Taylor trio and Prestige is an imaginative success. Called A Touch of Taylor, the album is composed entirely of Taylor originals, each one dedicated to that rare radio species of disc jockey that encourages jazz. (Other Taylor originals of merit aimed at individual AFTRAmen can be heard in Prestige LP 184). Billy receives the characteristically emphatic accompaniment of bassist Earl May and drummer Percy Brice, who has become much more relaxed in recent months.

The reason for the rating is not only the constantly high level of Billy’s conception and execution but the rather startling fact that the fresh, never lazy musical mind of Taylor has come up with a whole dozen originals for one LP. Nearly all, especially the gently distinctive ballads, bear the quality Taylor touch and – as mentioned in previous reviews of Taylor – many would be brightening additions to the books of many jazz units.

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Liner Notes by Bob Altshuler

“Billy Taylor is perhaps the most underrated pianist in present-day jazz. He not only swings constantly, but he has technique superior to most of his colleagues, a marvelous pianistic sound, and a fertile ability to so construct fresh, organically building ideas that each of his performances ends up a strongly, realized whole, that bears the unmistakable mark of his style and personality.”

The New York editor of Down Beat magazine, Nat Hentoff wrote the above in his review of Billy Taylor’s At Town Hall (PRESTIGE Album LP 194). His words might equally apply to this album. Actually a A Touch of Taylor contains all the touches of the Taylor piano and Trio that constantly delights audiences wherever they are heard. All the musical facets of the Trio’s playing are to be found in this album, whether it be in the lovely ballads with their cool elegance, or in the swinging up-tempos brightened by their flashes of wit.

How did this remarkable group come about is a question often asked of Billy. To understand what is behind a successful musical idea, it is often necessary to know more about the one who conceived it. Billy Taylor’s place of birth was Greenville, North Carolina. His education was capped by four years of music studies at Virginia State College leading to a B.S. degree in 1942. Billy’s personal charm and natural ability sped him into professional work on New York’s 52nd street, starting with Ben Webster’s quartet. His subsequent role as sideman in numerous groups on the jazz street developed an instrumental dexterity that was to become an essential ingredient in his later playing. Billy was the pianist in Dizzy Gillespie‘s initial venture as the leader of a modern band; he was with Cozy Cole’s Quartet in the Billy Rose Broadway production of “The Seven Lively Arts;” a member of Machito‘s Afro-Cuban Orchestra; Erroll Garner‘s replacement in Slam Stewart’s Trio.

Since he had just about exhausted all the possibilities in New York’s jazz world, Billy logically tackled the foreign market next, via the piano chair in Don Redman‘s Orchestra. An eight month tour of Europe was an exciting experience in every way. Billy’s return to the States was marked by a period of scuffling. As the piano half of an organ-piano duo, he worked with Bob Wyatt; then as a single, then with a quartet. This was interrupted by a coveted invitation to head an all-star jazz group for an appearance at the National Exposition in Haiti.

When our “pied piper” of jazz completed the Haitian jaunt, many of New York’s clubs were eager for his piano work. Billy found himself ensconced either as a single or with his reorganized quartet at Cafe society, the Park Avenue and many of the other smart supper clubs. It was his quartet that Artie Shaw fronted for several weeks at the Iceland Restaurant in 1950. All this was perhaps only preliminary to a unique achievement. Billy commenced what was to become the longest unbroken appearance of any musician at Birdland (two years). He appeared as soloist, as a leader of various groups, and as pianist in combos led by every important musician in modern jazz.

It was shortly after the conclusion of this musical marathon that the Billy Taylor Trio came into being. The Trio debuted at the Down Beat Club in New York, for a two week engagement. But Billy’s unusual staying powers prevented their leaving. The club’s management extended and re-extended their appearance until they had rolled up fifty additional weeks. When the Down Beat finally yielded, the famous Copacabana put in a all for the Trio. The group was booked into the spot for the usual two weeks. The Copa appearance turned into a twenty-two week stay. Despite this enormous musical activity, Billy has somehow found time to develop into one of jazz’ most effective spokesmen. He has lectured at Columbia University, his Alma Mater, Virginia State College, and the Riverdale School in New York as well as many high schools throughout the country. His published works include eight manuals on jazz piano playing.

Billy Taylor has shown rare perception in his choice of musical associates. The Trio is sparked by bassist Earl May and drummer Percy Brice whose superb teamwork creates new dimensions of rhythmic, dynamic and harmonic color.

Over the years Billy has received warm encouragement from many of those gentlemen who are customarily identified with microphones and turntables. In this album Billy has tried to answer some of their requests for theme or background music. Limitation of space prevented every request being satisfied, but as Billy continues to record, other material will be forthcoming. Billy has dedicated the tunes in this album to the following disc jockeys: Ever So Easy, Bob Murphy; Radioactivity, Bill Gordon; À bientôt, Frank Sauline; Long Tom, Tom White; Day Dream, Sid McCoy; Live It Up, Todd Purse; Purple Mood, Al Collins; Early Bird, Mike Rapchack; Blue Cloud, Bill Powell; It’s a Grand Night for Swinging, Jimmy Wittington; Memories of Spring, Willis Conover; Daddy-O, Daddy-O Daylie.