In mid-2007 I signed a contract with Vanderbilt University Press to publish an English language edition of The Ghosts Of Harlem, which had been published in France ten years earlier. My original list I’d compiled in 1986 of 112 older musicians who’d been active in Harlem had diminished considerably in the two decades since I began the project, but I was determined to include at least one new “ghost” in the new edition. My first choice was Dr. Billy Taylor, one of the most articulate men in jazz, either at a piano or behind a microphone. I telephoned Billy and he was happy to be part of the project.

I went to his home in Riverdale in November, conducted the interview and took a number of photographs to illustrate his section of the book. In the course of the interview, Billy told a story about the first time he played at a well-known jazz room in Harlem, the club was Minton’s, which was in disrepair when I began my project, but now was restored and open for business. It was a great story: Billy was just the new kid on the block in 1943, took the bus to Minton’s, waited until 3:00 AM, was finally asked to sit in, but he didn’t get much of a chance to show what he could do. It just so happened that Ben Webster was watching and listening, liked the little he saw and heard, asked Billy to audition and within two weeks of coming to town, Billy had a steady job and was the new kid on the two greatest blocks in the world, 52nd Street, between 5th and 7th Avenues.

I thought it was a great story, so interesting that I was certain it would be a great touch to take a photograph of Billy in front of Minton’s to include in the book. We certainly couldn’t do it that day, but Billy said we’d find a time. It turned out it wasn’t so easy. We were up against crowded schedules, unpredictable weather, and illness. It took over two months, but finally we found a day in January 2008 with a two-hour window that worked for everyone.

We drove down from Riverdale and made our way to 118th Street. I posed Billy so the Minton’s sign would fill the top part of the photograph. I shot four rolls of film, black and white and color, 35mm and medium format. Billy’s mile wide smile made every photograph a keeper and one black and white was perfect for the title page of his interview in The Ghosts of Harlem. The color photographs, however, had a little more zip. I couldn’t have anticipated that Billy would wear a tie that matched the blue in the Minton’s sign.

Billy was clearly having a good time while I was taking the pictures. He was happy to see Minton’s looking so good, maybe better than 1943. He was probably even happier to have himself looking so good. At one point I had to change film and while I was doing this an older (though probably younger than Billy!) resident of 118th Street spotted us and walked up to Billy, grabbed his hand, shook it vigorously and said, “Dr. Taylor! So glad to see you’re still above ground!” It was a great moment, and I wish my camera had been loaded.

Dr. Billy Taylor, Outside Minton's, Harlem, New York City, January 8, 2008