Perkinson, Coleridge-Taylor

Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson (1932- ) is a composer, conductor, and pianist. He received his B.M. and M.M. from the Manhattan School of Music and went on to study conducting at Princeton University, Tanglewood, and summer festivals in Europe. A founding member and associate conductor of the Symphony of the New World, his long career as a composer includes work in classical music, jazz, and film and television.

From the description of Collection, 1949-1994. (Columbia College Chicago). WorldCat record id: 51072215

Although he was a multifaceted arranger, composer, conductor, pianist, and educator, Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson (1932-2004) had a brief, but significant involvement with popular music, as an arranger for Motown recording artists in general, and Marvin Gaye in particular.

Named after the Afro-British composer and conductor, Samuel Coleridge Taylor, Perkinson was born in in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and moved to New York as a child. He attended the High School of Music and Art, New York University, and the Manhattan School of Music. Perkinson's professional accomplishments would span a remarkably wide range of fields, including classical music, jazz, popular music, dance, film soundtracks, scores for television, and music education. In 1965, he co-founded the Symphony of the New World in New York. His jazz credits include a short stint playing piano in Max Roach's Quartet and work with Donald Byrd and the Blackbyrds. He straddled the jazz and dance worlds when he wrote a ballet for Alvin Ailey inspired by Charlie Parker, For Bird, With Love (1985). Other work for dance companies included serving as music director for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Jerome Robbins's American Theater Lab, and the Dance Theater of Harlem. Perkinson also had numerous film and television credits, including Cornbread, Earl and Me (1975) and The Barbara McNair Show (1969-1971). His career in education began at Brooklyn College in 1959 and ended at Columbia College in Chicago, Illinois, where he directed the Center for Black Music Research and the New Black Music Repertory Ensemble until the time of his death. Among his most notable efforts as an arranger of popular music are his work on Marvin Gaye's album, I Want You (1976) and Leon Ware's Musical Massage (1976).

From the description of Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson papers, 1975-1978. (New York Public Library). WorldCat record id: 181340284