Montana Taylor

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Montana Taylor (1903-1954) was an American boogie-woogie pianist best known for his recordings in the 1940s and regarded as the leading exponent of the "barrelhouse" style of playing.^[1]

He was born Arthur Taylor in Butte, Montana, where his father owned a club. The family moved to Chicago and then Indianapolis, where Taylor learned piano around 1919. Later he moved to Cleveland, Ohio. By 1929 he was back in Chicago, where he recorded a few tracks for Vocalion Records, including "Indiana Avenue Stomp" and "Detroit Rocks".^[1]

He then disappeared from the public record for some years, during which he may have given up playing piano. However, in 1946 he was rediscovered by jazz fan Rudi Blesh, and was recorded both solo and as the accompanist to Bertha "Chippie" Hill. The later recordings proved he had lost none of his instrumental abilities, and had developed as a singer.^[1]

His final recordings were from a 1948 radio broadcast. Taylor died in 1954.