Creed Taylor  

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Creed Taylor (1929 – 2022) was an American record producer and trumpeter, best known for his work with CTI Records, which he founded in 1967.

In the 1960s, he signed bossa nova artists from Brazil to record in the US including Antônio Carlos Jobim, Eumir Deodato, João Gilberto, Astrud Gilberto, and Airto Moreira.

Creed Taylor is associated with smooth jazz, a marketing move which turned obscure jazz musicians such as George Benson and Grover Washington, Jr. into popular stars by incorporating pop music influences into jazz melodies and improvisation.

He released Shock Music In Hi-Fi (1958) and Panic - Son Of Shock (1960) as The Creed Taylor Orchestra.

Biography

Early work

Taylor was born in Lynchburg, Virginia and spent his childhood in Pearisburg, Virginia, where he played trumpet in the high school marching band and symphony orchestra. Although he grew up surrounded by country music and bluegrass, he gravitated more toward the sounds of jazz, citing Dizzy Gillespie as a source of inspiration during his high school years. Taylor recalls spending many evenings beside a small radio, listening to Symphony Sid's live broadcasts from Birdland in New York City.

After high school, Taylor completed an undergraduate degree in psychology from Duke University in 1951 while actively performing with the student jazz ensembles the Duke Ambassadors and the Five Dukes. Taylor credits Duke's strong tradition of student-led jazz ensembles, and Les Brown's association with Duke in particular, as initially drawing him to the university. As he recalls, "The reason I went to Duke was from hearing Les Brown and all the history of the bands who went through Duke. This was really a great jazz band, . . . and the book was handed down from one class to the next, you had to audition and all the best players who came to Duke got in the band. . . . I had a ball when I was there." After graduating from Duke, Taylor spent two years in the Marines before returning to Duke for a year of graduate study.

The Bethlehem years

Shortly thereafter, Taylor relocated to New York City in order to pursue his dream of becoming a record producer. Although he had no formal training in record production, he recalls that his "mix of naivete and positive thinking" convinced him that he could succeed. After arriving in NYC, Taylor approached another Duke University alum who was running Bethlehem Records. Taylor persuaded the label to allow him to record the vocalist Chris Connor with the trio of pianist Ellis Larkins. Due in part to the album's success, Taylor became head of artists and repertoire for Bethlehem, where he remained during its two most significant years, recording such artists as Oscar Pettiford, Ruby Braff, Carmen McRae, Charles Mingus, Herbie Mann, Charlie Shavers, and the J.J. Johnson-Kai Winding Quintet.

The ABC-Paramount years

In 1956 Taylor left Bethlehem to join ABC-Paramount, where, four years later, he founded the subsidiary label Impulse!. Motivated by the idea of a label dedicated to tasteful, current jazz, Taylor worked with ABC-Paramount executive Harry Levine to advocate for the label, which he dubbed "The New Wave in Jazz". It was Taylor who signed John Coltrane to Impulse!, rather than Coltrane's better known producer at the label, Bob Thiele. Taylor's accomplishments during this period also included gaining immediate credibility for the label by releasing successful gate-fold albums by Ray Charles, Gil Evans, J.J. Johnson and Kai Winding, and Oliver Nelson. Taylor was sensitive to the importance of album cover design to visually attract people to the music, and he regularly hired photographers Pete Turner and Arnold Newman to create cover images. Taylor's successful Impulse! albums regularly blurred the genre-based lines between jazz and popular music, and his superb production values became the hallmark of the label.

The Verve years

Although he signed John Coltrane for Impulse! in 1960, Taylor left the following year to accept a job with Verve Records. There he prominently introduced bossa nova to the US through recordings such as “The Girl from Ipanema” with Antonio Carlos Jobim and Stan Getz. As Taylor recalls, "I went down to Brazil a few times and spent some time at Jobim's house and met all the players down there. Then of course after "Desafinado" became a hit, Jobim wanted to come up and see what New York was like, so he came in to see me right off the bat. That started a long friendship and series of albums."

As Gene Lees puts it: "Creed Taylor was treating [bossa nova] with respect and dignity. Were it not for Creed Taylor, I am convinced, bossa nova and Brazilian music generally would have retreated into itself, gone back to Brazil . . . and become a quaint parochial phenomenon interesting to tourists, instead of the worldwide music and the tremendous influence on jazz itself that it in fact became."

While at Verve, Taylor also produced recordings by Wes Montgomery, Jimmy Smith, Bill Evans, Cal Tjader, and others.

Later years

In 2009, Taylor toured Europe with the CTI All Stars band. The first concert at the Montreux Jazz Festival was recorded and filmed for a CD/DVD/Blu-ray release, CTI All Stars At Montreux 2009, featuring Hubert Laws, Airto Moreira, Flora Purim, Randy Brecker, John McLaughlin, George Duke, Mark Egan, and special guest Jamie Cullum. The album was engineered by Rudy Van Gelder with cover art by Pete Turner. That same year, Taylor himself produced, for the first time, an extensive CTI reissue series on SHM-CD format, "The CTI + RVG" series, working for the last time with Van Gelder.

In 2010, Taylor once again put together the CTI All Stars for another tour, this time with Bryan Lynch replacing Randy Brecker. A video was filmed at the Burghausen Festival and was broadcast on German TV.

Discography

As orchestra leader with The Creed Taylor Orchestra (& Chorus)

• 1958: Shock Music In Hi-Fi (ABC-Paramount)
• 1959: Sound of New York: A Musical Portrait (ABC-Paramount)

As producer

• 1955: Chris Connor Sings Lullaby of Birdland (Bethlehem)
• 1955: East Coast Jazz, Vol. 6 (Urbie Green, Bethlehem)
• 1956: This Is How I Feel About Jazz (Quincy Jones, ABC Records-Paramount Records)
• 1960: Out of the Cool (Gil Evans, Impulse! Records)
• 1961: Genius + Soul = Jazz (Ray Charles, Impulse! Records)
• 1961: The Complete Africa/Brass Sessions (John Coltrane, Impulse! Records)
• 1961: The Great Kai & J. J. (Kai Winding & J.J. Johnson, Impulse! Records)
• 1963: Getz/Gilberto (Stan Getz en Astrud Gilberto, Verve Records)
• 1963: The Individualism of Gil Evans (Gil Evans, Verve Records)
• 1964: Getz Au Go Go (Stan Getz en Astrud Gilberto, Verve Records)
• 1964: The Cat (Jimmy Smith, with arrangements by Lalo Schifrin, Verve Records)
• 1965: Got My Mojo Workin'/Hoochie Cooche Man (Jimmy Smith, Verve Records)
• 1967: Sweet Rain (Stan Getz, Verve Records)
• 1970: Gula Matari (Quincy Jones, A&M Records)
• 1972: Prelude (Eumir Deodato, CTI Records)
• 1973: Body Talk (George Benson, CTI Records)
• 1974: She Was Too Good To Me (Chet Baker, CTI Records)
• 1978: Baltimore (Nina Simone, CTI Records)

Linking in as of 2022

7 x Wilder, A & R Recording, A Certain Smile, a Certain Sadness, A Day in the Life (Wes Montgomery album), A Generation Ago Today, A Secret Place, A Simple Matter of Conviction, A Wilder Alias, ABC Records, Africa/Brass, Afro-Classic, Água de Beber, All About Urbie Green and His Big Band, All Blues (Ron Carter album), All the King's Horses (Grover Washington Jr. album), All the Sad Young Men (album), Also Sprach Zarathustra (2001), Anita O'Day & the Three Sounds, Anthology (Grover Washington Jr. album), Any Number Can Win (album), Anything Goes (Ron Carter album), Astrud Gilberto, Autophysiopsychic, Bad Benson, Baddest (album), Baltimore (album), Barry Galbraith, Bashin': The Unpredictable Jimmy Smith, Batucada (Walter Wanderley album), Beach Samba, Beck (album), Benson & Farrell, Bethlehem Records, Between Broadway & Hollywood, Betwixt & Between, Beyond Ipanema, Beyond the Blue Horizon, Big Band Bossa Nova (Stan Getz album), Big Blues (Art Farmer album), Bill Evans Trio with Symphony Orchestra, BJ4, Black Widow (Lalo Schifrin album), Blue Bash!, Blue Genes (album), Blue Hodge, Blue Moses, Blue Notes (album), Blue Pyramid (Johnny Hodges and Wild Bill Davis album), Blue Rabbit, Blues and Other Shades of Green, Blues Caravan, Blues Farm, Bob James (musician), Bob Thiele, Body Talk (George Benson album), Bola Sete at the Monterey Jazz Festival, Boss Tenors, Breakout (Johnny Hammond album), Breeze from the East, Bumpin' (Wes Montgomery album), Cal Tjader Plays the Contemporary Music of Mexico and Brazil, Cal Tjader, California Dreaming (Wes Montgomery album), Calling Out Loud, Canned Funk, Carnegie Hall (Hubert Laws album), Carnegie Hall Concert (Gerry Mulligan and Chet Baker album), Charlie Byrd, Cherry (Stanley Turrentine album), Christmas '64, Clarence Avant, Claudio Roditi, Claudio Slon, Claus Ogerman, Comin' in the Back Door, Concierto, Conversations with Myself (album), Cool Velvet, Courage (Milton Nascimento album), Crawl Space (album), Crying Song (album), CTI Records, Deodato 2, Dirty Dog (album), Don Felder, Don't Mess with Mister T., Don't You Worry 'bout a Thing (album), Down Here on the Ground, DownBeat, Duke Ambassadors, El Sonido Nuevo, Empathy (Bill Evans and Shelly Manne album), Encyclopedia of Jazz, End of a Rainbow, Enoch Olinga, Eumir Deodato, Feels So Good (Grover Washington Jr. album), Fingers (album), Firefly (Jeremy Steig album), First Light (Freddie Hubbard album), Focus (Stan Getz album), Frank Rehak, Freddie Hubbard, Freddie Hubbard/Stanley Turrentine in Concert Volume One, Free (Airto album), From the Hot Afternoon, Full Nelson (album), Further Adventures of Jimmy and Wes, Fuse One, Fusion (Jimmy Giuffre 3 album), 'Gator Tails, Genius + Soul = Jazz, George Benson, Getz Au Go Go, Getz/Gilberto Vol. 2, Getz/Gilberto, Giant Box, Gilberto with Turrentine, Gloomy Sunday and Other Bright Moments, Gloomy Sunday, Glory of Love (album), God Bless the Child (Kenny Burrell album), Goin' Out of My Head (album), Good King Bad, Goodbye (Milt Jackson album), Got My Mojo Workin' (album), Grover Washington Jr., Guitar Forms, Gula Matari, Hank Crawford's Back, Hawkins! Alive! At the Village Gate, Hawkins! Eldridge! Hodges! Alive! At the Village Gate!, Help Me Make It Through the Night (Hank Crawford album), Higher Ground (Johnny Hammond album), His Majesty King Funk, Hobo Flats, Hoochie Cooche Man, House of the Rising Sun (album), How Insensitive, I Got a Woman and Some Blues, I Hear a Symphony (Hank Crawford album), I Heard That!!, Impulse! Records, In a Latin Bag, In a Temple Garden, In Concert Volume Two (Freddie Hubbard & Stanley Turrentine album), In Concert-Carnegie Hall, In the Beginning (Hubert Laws album), Inner City Blues (Grover Washington Jr. album), Intermodulation (album), Into the Hot (Gil Evans album), Israel (album), It's All Right! (Wynton Kelly album), Jazz Concerto Grosso, Jazz fusion, Jazz Samba Encore!, Jazz Samba, Jimmy & Wes: The Dynamic Duo, Jimmy Raney featuring Bob Brookmeyer, Joe Farrell Quartet, Joe Roland Quintette, Joe's Blues (Johnny Hodges and Wild Bill Davis album), Johnny "Hammond" Smith, Johnny Hodges with Billy Strayhorn and the Orchestra, Jon Hendricks, Joseph Chinn, Kai Olé, Kai Winding (album), Kai Winding, Kathy McCord (album), Kathy McCord, Keep Your Soul Together, Kenyon Hopkins, Last Night When We Were Young (album), List of songs about London, Live at The Bijou, Live at the Bottom Line, Lonnie Smith (jazz musician), Look to the Rainbow (Astrud Gilberto album), Loose Blues, Mama Wailer, Margo Guryan, Mess of Blues (Johnny Hodges and Wild Bill Davis album), Mis'ry and the Blues, Mister Magic, Mixed (album), Mizrab (album), Modern Country (album), Mondo Cane No. 2, Monster (Jimmy Smith album), Montreux II, Moon Germs, Moondreams (Walter Wanderley album), More Brass, Morning Star (Hubert Laws album), Motion (Lee Konitz album), Motown, Movin' Wes, Mundell Lowe, My Woman's Good to Me, Nautilus (song), Negril (album), New Fantasy, Nina Simone, Nobody Else but Me (album), Now Please Don't You Cry, Beautiful Edith, Olinga (album), Once a Thief and Other Themes, One (Bob James album), Organ Grinder Swing, Out of the Cool, Out of the Storm (Ed Thigpen album), Out of This World (Johnny Mercer song), Outback (album), Pacific Fire, Pearisburg, Virginia, Penny Arcade (album), Penny Lane & Time, Perceptions (Dizzy Gillespie album), Pete Turner (photographer), Peter & the Wolf (Jimmy Smith album), Piano, Strings and Bossa Nova, Plays the Theme from The V.I.P.s and Other Great Songs, Polar AC, Power of Soul (album), Prelude (Deodato album), Previously Unreleased Recordings, Pure Desmond, Rain Forest (Walter Wanderley album), Rainy Day (album), Rambler (Gábor Szabó album), Recorded Fall 1961, Red Clay, Reflections (Stan Getz album), Respect (Jimmy Smith album), Road Song, Salt Song, Samba Para Dos, Sandy's Gone, Señor Blues (Urbie Green album), Several Shades of Jade, Shape of Things to Come (George Benson album), She Was Too Good to Me, Sing a Song of Basie, Sky Dive, Skylark (Paul Desmond album), Smokin' at the Half Note, Soft Samba Strings, Soft Samba, Solo (Kai Winding album), Something You Got, Soña Libré, Soul Bird: Whiffenpoof, Soul Box, Soul Burst, Soul jazz, Soul Machine (disambiguation), Soul Sauce, Soul Surfin', Space (George Benson album), Spanish Blue (album), Spanish Grease, Stan Getz & Bill Evans, Stan Getz with Guest Artist Laurindo Almeida, Stanley Turrentine, Stone Flower (album), Stonebone, Straight Life (Freddie Hubbard album), Straight-ahead jazz, Stride Right, Studio Trieste, Sugar (Stanley Turrentine album), Summertime (Paul Desmond album), Sunflower (Milt Jackson album), Suspense Themes in Jazz, Sweet Rain, Tamiko Jones, Tell It Like It Is (George Benson album), Tequila (Wes Montgomery album), The Africa/Brass Sessions, Volume 2, The Astrud Gilberto Album, The Bill Evans Trio "Live", The Blues and the Abstract Truth, The Cat (album), The Chicago Theme, The Composer of Desafinado Plays, The Deadly Affair, The Dissection and Reconstruction of Music from the Past as Performed by the Inmates of Lalo Schifrin's Demented Ensemble as a Tribute to the Memory of the Marquis De Sade, The Essential George Benson, The Fox (Urbie Green album), The Gary McFarland Orchestra, The George Benson Collection, The Girl from Ipanema, The Great Kai & J. J., The Great New Gene Krupa Quartet Featuring Charlie Ventura, The In Instrumentals, The In Sound (Gary McFarland album), The Individualism of Gil Evans, The Jazz Version of "How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying", The Main Attraction (album), The New Billy Taylor Trio, The Oscar Pettiford Orchestra in Hi-Fi Volume Two, The Other Side of Abbey Road, The Prophet (album), The Rape of El Morro, The Rite of Spring (Hubert Laws album), The San Francisco Concert, The Shadow of Your Smile (Astrud Gilberto album), The Sound of Feeling, The Sugar Man, Thesis (Jimmy Giuffre 3 album), Think Well of Me, This Is How I Feel About Jazz, Three (Bob James album), Tico Rico, Tide (album), Time & Love, Time for 2, Time Is on My Side, Towering Toccata, Trio 64, Trio '65, Trombone Jazz Samba, Turn This Mutha Out, Two (Bob James album), Undiluted, Uno Dos Tres 1•2•3, Up with Donald Byrd, Upon This Rock (Joe Farrell album), Velvet Darkness, Verve Records discography, Verve Records, Voices (Stan Getz album), Walking in Space, Walter Wanderley, Warm Wave, Wave (Antônio Carlos Jobim album), Wave (Antônio Carlos Jobim song), Wax Poetics, We Got a Good Thing Going, Wes Montgomery, When It Was Done, White Rabbit (George Benson album), Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (album), Wild Horses Rock Steady, Wildflower (Hank Crawford album), Wings & Things, Yama (album), Yellow & Green (Ron Carter album), You, Baby