Creed Taylor says goodbye to one of jazz’s great visionaries

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faith taylorThe legendary producer and record executive, one of the great visionaries of jazz and one of the rare characters who can define the sound of an era, passed away this Tuesday at the age of 93. Taylor devoted her life to bringing this. music general publicA mission accomplished by recording over 300 works with an endless list of great artists and paying the utmost attention to the details that can make an album a success, beyond the music, from the design to the quality of the recordings. This commitment was reflected above all in the two record companies he founded. Increase! Y ITCbut also in to seeThe company that artistically commanded in its time of greatest glory. At the same time, the international boom is also thanks to him. Bossa Nova lived in the early 60’sand that would transform the Brazilian rhythm into one of the voices that defined music in general and jazz in particular during that decade and beyond.

He was born in rural Virginia. blue grass and the people of groups such as The Carter FamilyTaylor preferred jazz, which she had listened to in concerts broadcast on the radio since her childhood, over legendary music. birds club from New York. He learned to play the trumpet in high school and later enrolled at Duke University due to the quality and background of the jazz formations he attended while graduating in Psychology.

Meanwhile, he became obsessed with production and became a compulsive consumer of jazz records. As he told the journalist ashley hanHe bought all the titles of the collection during his student dormitory years. Jazz at the Philharmonicwho directed Norman Granz. “I’ve been listening to all the recordings that come out nonstop: tenor battles, drum battles and blah blah. I used to love jazz, but at the same time, ‘Who needs this?’ I wondered too. So I decided to get into that sort of thing and set up carefully planned sessions with room for improvisation, but without endless solos.” ​​A phrase that perfectly sums up the musical philosophy that would define his entire career.

After completing his education and military service, after his ideas and profession became clear, he settled in New York in the mid-1950s, where he began working as an artist and repertory conductor. betheleman independent record label that publishes all kinds of music and has the opportunity to record with names such as double bass in the field of jazz. Charles Mingusflutist Herbie Mann or the singer Carmen McRae. was his next stop ABC-Paramount Records, record division of the conglomerate of film and television companies. There, in addition to fulfilling his responsibilities as a manager, recorded several albums, which he signed as a musicianunder his command Creed Taylor Orchestraand this reflected a commitment to jazz that was already close to pop and willing to wink at mass culture emanating from the cinema or television: shock anyone panic It’s packed with sound effects inspired by horror and mystery movies.

Jazz’s rise to the first division came in 1960 when she was commissioned by ABC-Paramount to launch a brand specializing in the genre. That’s when Taylor founded Impulse!, which she designed as a legendary brand. a reflection of a certain musical modernity closely related to the aesthetic conveyed by cinema and advertising. your time. Although his tenure there lasted only a few months, Taylor’s Revolutionize record imagery with a commitment to folding format albums where photography or typography is essential. The name itself, the warm, almost fiery colors of its famous black and orange back and caps, exudes the dynamism, spontaneity and emotion encapsulated in modern jazz and its successor, Bob Thielelater gave way to more avant-garde regions.

new wave of jazz

Despite his short stay, Taylor was given time to build a brand with best-selling albums such as singles, which achieved immediate commercial and critical success. A Mint Julep of the Ray Charleswith a list of top-notch artists that include musicians such as Oliver Nelson anyone John Coltrane and like arrangers Gil Evans Y quincy jones. He was responsible for most of these recordings. Rudy VanGelder, a prestigious sound engineer who will collaborate with him in many moments of his career. Contrary to popular belief, it was Creed Taylor himself who signed Coltrane, the most respected of the musicians of that era. With this. Also, “The New Wave of Jazz Begins… DRIVE!” It was Taylor who invented the slogan for the record label. (“The new wave of jazz is on Impulse!”) would prove to be as effective as true for years to come.

Despite the success to see As soon as Norman Granz sells Metro Goldwyn Mayerand as head of production helped make this the major jazz house that remains today, with the largest catalog of music on the market. There he continued to add great numbers –Wes Montgomery, Bill Evans, Stan Getz, Jimmy Smith– strong cast that already owns the company he leads Ella Fitzgerald which was representative of Granz. He did his best to popularize their music, wrapping them in beautiful arrangements and putting them to work with exotic sounds that were in vogue.

the most significant was Bossa NovaWhat Taylor discovered when she became a guitarist charlie byrd stole the records he bought during a trip Brazil. This soft cadence was perfect for a quiet, melodic saxophonist like Stan Getz and quickly got Getz and Byrd together for the record. jazz sambais the first in a long line of successful Brazilian music albums to be released on Verve. The biggest of them all, like an endless beat girl from ipanemaat his behest they recorded the canonical version Antonio Carlos Jobim, Stan Getz and his marriage joao Y astrud gilbert In 1964 it automatically turned it into a global success and awarded him one of the numerous Grammy awards the producer has won throughout his career.

Creed Taylor, center left. Singer and actor Sammy Davis Jr. together with Astrud Gilberto (left) and Monica Getz (Stan Getz’s wife, right) for the album ‘Getz/Gilberto’ featuring ‘La chica de Ipanema’. . ) at the 1964 Grammy Awards. File, Archive

It took six years to stay at Verve. musician in 1967 plant alperti offered to create a jazz label within his independent company A&M Records and Taylor, freed from the shackles of big corporations, christened him his own name: ITC (Creed Taylor Incorporated). As he already did in Impulse! and Verve above all created a brand with a very defined image, an aesthetic and discursive bet. sam antupite and photos Peter Turneralready accompanied him in Impulse!) and a characteristic voice: fusion of jazz with soul and Latin American musicoften wrapped in splendid orchestras, and the use of innovative electronic instruments and recording machines is at the controls once again with Van Gelder.

On the list of CTI artists were the first swords of velvet and fusion jazz (George Benson, Wes Montgomery, Stanley Turrentine), big figures approaching new sounds (nina simone, Antonio Carlos Jobim, gang baker, Gerry Mulligan) and young generation talented Brazilian musicians (Eumir Deodato, Airto Moreira, Milton Nascimento). In 1970, the label became independent of its parent company and, like the first, massive success stages were altered by other financial difficulties and artistic setbacks.

In the 1990s, Taylor returned for CTI to record some albums with artists such as: Larry Coryell anyone Jim Hallbut his work in recent years is above all to recapture some of his great titles from the past and CTI All Stars Group, a reliable group of stars. Jazz was already something else: niche music for older audiences, concentrated in a handful of clubs and festivals around the world, and far removed from hegemony in popular culture. cool and modern enjoyed between the 50s and 70s. That he fought hard to conquer and exploit.

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