Billy Taylor was considered one of the foremost ambassadors of American jazz music The jazz musician and composer Billy Taylor has died in New York of heart failure at the age of 89.
Taylor had been playing professionally since the 1940s, and later became a TV and radio personality, presenting several jazz programmes.
His most famous song, I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free, became the unofficial anthem of the US civil rights movement.
Taylor was considered to be one of the most ardent advocates of jazz music.
In the 1960s he set up the Jazzmobile movement, which promoted education through the arts and staged free concerts by high-profile jazz musicians in deprived areas of the US.
Taylor, who had a doctorate in music education as well as several honorary degrees, is survived by his wife, Theodora, and a daughter.
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