Jazz master Billy Taylor performing at K-State March 16 as part of National Endowment for the Arts tour

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Source: Alfred W. Cochran, 785-532-4372, cochalw@k-state.edu
http://www.iaje.org/bio.asp?ArtistID=43
News release prepared by: Erinn Barcomb-Peterson, 785-532-6415, ebarcomb@k-state.edu

Tuesday, March 6, 2007

JAZZ MASTER BILLY TAYLOR PERFORMING AT K-STATE MARCH 16 AS PART OF NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS TOUR

MANHATTAN -- With help from a Manhattan-based organization, the National Endowment for the Arts is bringing jazz pianist, educator and composer Billy Taylor to Kansas State University for a performance and lecture.

Taylor will perform and speak at 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 16, at K-State's All Faiths Chapel. The performance and lecture are free and open to the public. K-State and the International Association for Jazz Education, based in Manhattan, are hosts for the event, which is sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters on Tour program.

Taylor's recording career spans nearly six decades. He began playing piano professionally in 1944 and has performed with artists like Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis. He has led his own trio since the 1950s. He also was an arts correspondent for "CBS Sunday Morning" for more than two decades. In addition, he served as a Duke Ellington Fellow at Yale University. Taylor has received two Peabody Awards, an Emmy, a Grammy, a National Medal of Arts Award and was elected to the International Association for Jazz Education Hall of Fame.

Taylor was given the National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters Award in 1988. The award recognizes living artists or advocates who have made exceptional contributions to the advancement of jazz. The award is part of the Jazz Masters Initiative, a National Endowment for the Arts program to support jazz artists, audiences, presenters and students.