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Art Taylor, Original Vintage B & W photograph, a striking early candid image by the prominent New York music photographer PoPsie Randolph, with his imprint to bottom left. SIGNED and inscribed by Taylor to the bottom left margin on his bass drum."To My Man X, Keep Swingin, Art", The photograph is very good++, with random mild surface dings, shallow vertical crazing to upper half of the photograph with ink annotation, light soil and creasing to the verso. The autograph is near fine, without loss or fading, in blue ink. Art Taylor (1929- 1995) was one of the great jazz drummers and bandleaders. As a teen-ager he became part of the vital New York jazz scene of the late 40's - early 50's, forming a group with Sonny Rollins and Jackie McLean; and in the 1950's and early 60's became a first call drummer for Prestige and Blue Note, contributing to a number of seminal recordings, including John Coltrane's, Giant Steps, Miles Davis's, Miles Ahead, Bud Powell's best Blue Note sessions, and Thelonious Monk's Town Hall recordings. He performed and recorded with many other great figures of the era and with Art Blakey, Max Roach, and Philly Joe Jones, remade the sound of modern jazz drumming. In 1963, disillusioned with American politics and the current jazz scene, Taylor moved to Europe, living first in France and then Belgium until 1980, when he returned to the US. While living in Europe he compiled a collection of interviews in which he discussed racism, drugs and other subjects with his fellow musicians. These were first published in book form as "Notes & Poems" in 1982. In his final years Taylor emerged as an influential band leader, often performing with his band, Taylor's Wailers, which under his guidance became a training ground for a number of significant young musicians including Jacky Terrasson, and set the bar for small band excellence in the 90's. Art Taylor died in New York at the age of 65.
Perhaps partly because of his long sojourn in Europe, original, early photos of Art Taylor are scarce, and rare signed by the great jazz drummer; this is the first we have handled. Provenance: the collection of long time jazz autograph collector and seller Larry Rafferty. J2133
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