For many years before his television and radio work made him a household name, Billy Taylor was well known in jazz as one of the most versatile and adaptable of pianists. During a considerable stretch of the 1950s his trio was the house band at Birdland, accompanying or working opposite the greatest musicians of the day. Taylor’s stock-in-trade is direct communication with an audience. He plied that trade handsomely solely through music before the teaching, before the broadcasting and the speeches. In his 1960 live recording at New York’s Prelude, Taylor, bassist Henry Grimes, and Ray Mosca engage an audience in the magical process of musical communication. It may be that the listeners, many of them drawn from Harlem neighborhoods near the club, provided particular stimulation. Whatever the source of the inspiration, it was a fine night for Taylor and his trio.

with Henry Grimes, Ray Mosca