As beloved as he was in Washington and the jazz world at large, Dr. Billy Taylor was a man of fairly conservative taste in jazz. This was reflected in the jazz programming at the Kennedy Center, where Billy Taylor served for 16 years as the center's first artistic advisor for jazz. Even in his [...]

The proudest legacy of the late Dr. Billy Taylor's reign as the Kennedy Center's artistic director for jazz is, by his own account, the annual Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Festival. "It was the first thing I wanted to do at the Kennedy Center," he told me in a 2009 interview. "When I told [...]

Any thought that the Harlem memorial service for Dr. Billy Taylor last night would be a somber, mournful affair was dispelled after the opening prayers at Riverside Church of New York. First, Reverend Calvin O. Butts (from the nearby Abyssinian Baptist Church) delivered the evening's gathering prayer; then, he said, "One of the things I [...]

Morning, all. Well, it's a slow time of year–seems like time kind of stops around the holidays. There wasn't even a new episode of Top Chef All-Stars on last night. Regardless, let's see what's going on in the world of arts and entertainment.
Legendary jazz pianist and longtime D.C. resident Billy Taylor died yesterday of a [...]

City Paper’s Best of D.C. issue, which includes a healthy arts and entertainment section, hit the street today!
Since this is the paper’s second time putting together a Best of D.C. issue (since 1987), our staff chose to recognize both the best and the second-best our city has to offer. How clever are we?
Pick up a [...]