If a man can be judged by the company he keeps, Arthur Taylor hasto rate pretty close to a perfect 10. Partly because he lived inEurope from 1963-1980, the distinguished drummer isn't as widelyknown as fellow bop bashers Art Blakey and Max Roach. But his resumeis second to no one's.
"All the baddest guys like to play with me," said Taylor, whowill lead his reconstituted band, Taylor's Wailers, at the ChicagoJazz Festival on Sept. 4. When he says "bad," believe him: BudPowell, Thelonious Monk, Sonny Rollins, Miles Davis, John Coltraneand Jackie McLean are but a few of the legends with whom he hasenjoyed meaningful alliances.
Who's that drummer on Coltrane's "Giant Steps," Powell's "GlassEnclosure" and Davis' "Miles Ahead," to name but three timelessclassics? Mr. A.T., whose performance at the fest will be his firstin nearly three decades in the city where he once lived, in the early'50s. A way of life
Hearing the 65-year-old Harlem native discuss his life's work,you understand why so many passionate geniuses were drawn to him.For Taylor, drumming isn't just a craft or occupation, it's a way oflife.
"A real drummer is superior to everyone in the human race," saidTaylor, who has one of those deep, weathered voices that can soundthreatening even when that's the last thing he wants to be. "I'mserious. If I'm in trouble, if I'm in need of aid, I call a drummerbefore anyone. Because I know what he's gonna do, that's he gonna besupportive and come through.
"Look, you can't be weak when you gotta carry all that stuffaround, when you support everyone and make them sound good. Somepeople say all drummers are crazy. Well, yeah, I know some who willtake you to task. But that's because we get blamed for everything.When something goes wrong in a band, they always point to thedrummer."
Things were going wrong with more than Taylor's bands when hedecided to accept a three-month job in Paris in 1963. His marriagehad dissolved, he was by himself and unsure of what to do next. Inthe City of Light, where he had played a few times previously, hefound a welcoming group of expatriate jazz stars including JohnnyGriffin, Kenny Drew, Walter Davis Jr. and Donald Byrd.
Three months became 10 years. "I had a ball," he said. "I hungout with Jean-Paul Sartre, who loved the music, and Langston Hughes.I was having such a good time, I said to hell with the U.S. What'sthe sense of returning? Especially since people were going nuts backhome."
But though he had no desire to subject himself to the anger andindignities of the civil rights movement, he didn't just jazz aroundin his home away from home. He also conducted extensive interviewswith his black colleagues about social and political as well asmusical issues.
The edited talks were collected in his deeply revealing bookNotes and Tones: Musician-to-Musician Interviews, which he expandedfor its 1993 reissue. His main regret over the tome was that hewasn't aggressive enough to get Duke Ellington to sit for aninterview. But his chats with various great sidemen of the Dukehardly amounted to settling for less. A proud moment
While in Paris, Taylor was thrilled when one of his drummingidols, J.C. Heard, approached him after a set. He told him the bestthing Taylor ever did was leave America because it enabled him todevelop his own sound. "It was one of the proudest moments of mylife," Taylor said.
When Taylor decided to move back to America, after seven yearsin Belgium, he had more than Heard's words to live up to. "I knew Ihad to play better than ever," he said. "The minute you put out abook, people assume you can't play anymore. You have to show themyou can."
Taylor, who hosted a radio interview program in New York afterhis homecoming, is working on a new book about jazz drummers. But heisn't worried about proving himself again.
"I wish I played this way 20 years ago," said the drummer, whorecently stripped down the Wailers - featuring young alto sensationAbraham Burton - from a quintet to a quartet. "People have thisthing about age in America. But I transcend it."
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