IN: William Taylor (July 24, 1921 - December 28, 2010) was an American jazz pianist, composer, broadcaster and educator. He was the Robert L. Jones Distinguished Professor of Music at East Carolina University in Greenville, and from 1994 was the artistic director for jazz at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. A jazz activist, Taylor sat on the Honorary Founders Board of The Jazz Foundation of America, an organisation he started in 1989, with Ann Ruckert, Herb Storfer and Phoebe Jacobs, to save the homes and the lives of America's elderly jazz and blues musicians, later including musicians who survived Hurricane Katrina. Taylor was also a jazz educator, who lectured in colleges, served on panels and travelled worldwide as a jazz ambassador.

Taylor was born in Greenville, North Carolina, but moved to Washington, D.C., when he was five years old. He grew up in a musical family and learned to play different instruments as a child, including guitar, drums and saxophone. He was most successful at the piano, and had classical piano lessons with Henry Grant, who had educated Duke Ellington a generation earlier. Taylor made his first professional appearance playing keyboard at the age of 13 and was paid one dollar.  Taylor attended Dunbar High School, the U.S.'s first high school for African-American students. He went to Virginia State College and majored in sociology. During his time he joined Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity. Pianist Undine Smith Moore noticed young Taylor's talent in piano and he changed his major to music, graduating with a degree in music in 1942.  Taylor moved to New York City after graduation and started playing piano professionally from 1944, first with Ben Webster's Quartet on New York's 52nd Street. The same night he joined Webster's Quartet, he met Art Tatum, who became his mentor. Among the other musicians Taylor worked with was Machito and his mambo band, from whom he developed a love for Latin music. After an eight-month tour with the Don Redman Orchestra in Europe, Taylor stayed there with his wife, Theodora, and worked in Paris and the Netherlands.  Taylor returned to New York later that year and cooperated with Bob Wyatt and Sylvia Syms at the Royal Roost jazz club and Billie Holiday in a successful show called Holiday on Broadway. A year later, he became the house pianist at Birdland and performed with Charlie Parker, J.J. Johnson, Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis. Taylor played at Birdland longer than any other pianist in the history of the club. In 1949, Taylor published his first book, a textbook about bebop piano styles.

When did they get married

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IN: Focus are a Dutch rock band formed in Amsterdam in 1969 by keyboardist, vocalist, and flautist Thijs van Leer. The band have undergone numerous formations in its history; since December 2016 it has comprised van Leer, drummer Pierre van der Linden, guitarist Menno Gootjes, and bassist Udo Pannekeet. Past members include guitarist Jan Akkerman and bassist Bert Ruiter. They have sold one million RIAA-certified albums in the United States.

In mid-1983, both of Akkerman's managers came up with the idea of the guitarist reuniting with van Leer to record new music, to which Akkerman agreed. Van Leer immediately accepted the invitation, and went on to play the synthesiser on "Headbanger" on Akkerman's 1984 solo album From the Basement. After this initial collaboration, one executive at Phonogram Records suggested the pair work with producer Trevor Horn to release an album of re-recorded Focus tracks, but it was dismissed. In the following 15 months, the two wrote, rehearsed, and recorded new music with several additional musicians with engineer Theo Balijob. Their contract required the two to record as a duet, rather under the name Focus. During the recording, producer Ruud Jacobs was brought in to supervise the project due to the length of time taken to put the tracks down. Balijon claimed Jacobs cut corners and pushed for the strongest tracks to be completed quickly to save production costs, which "unintentionally increased the animosity between Jan and Thijs". In the 63 days they spent recording from April to May 1984, around 30 tracks were completed with several additional musicians. Focus was released in March 1985 by Vertigo Records which reached number 33 in the Netherlands. The pair followed the album with promotional videos and a local four-date tour.  In 1988, EMI acquired the rights to the band's back catalogue and reissued their albums on compact disc for the first time.  In 1990, the former line-up of van Leer, Akkerman, van der Linden, and Ruiter reunited for the first time since 1975. The four played a 40-minute set at the Americahal in Apeldoorn on 20 April that was broadcast as part of the Oud van Goud television special. It came about when producer Frans Meijer asked Akkerman to perform a gig with the group, and the fact that the guitarist's manager had not seen the band play in the 1970s, so "it was swatting two flies with one hit". The other three agreed at the opportunity, and they rehearsed for four hours in Wijchen several days prior to the concert. Ruiter said they "went very well"; van Leer said it was "fantastic". Following the concert, van Leer was keen to formally restart Focus with Akkerman, though the latter felt different though he was happy to reunite with van der Linden. On 17 May the group, minus Akkerman, mimed a performance of "House of the King" on the Service Salon television program on AVRO-TV. Originally the band were to perform "Hocus Pocus" with Akkerman, but the guitarist declined the offer made by the network, stating he reunited with Focus for Meijer and his manager. The appearance went ahead regardless.  Van Leer and Akkerman shared the stage once more in 1993, performing Focus songs at the North Sea Jazz Festival.  In 1999, van Leer attempted to reform Focus with Cleuver, Ruiter, and Dutch guitarist Menno Gootjes. They performed several live dates in the Netherlands, but disagreements between van Leer and Ruiter over material intended for release effectively split up the group.

Did they do any tours during this time frame?

OUT:
Focus was released in March 1985 by Vertigo Records which reached number 33 in the Netherlands. The pair followed the album with promotional videos and a local four-date tour.