Tony Tomlin wrote to us looking for help in identifying Mike Taylor's final resting place:
Tony says: 'I'm trying to locate the final resting place of Ronald Michael (Mike) Taylor who died in January 1969 at Leigh on Sea, Essex.'
'My brother, Dave, played with him on his Pendulum LP.
Some time last year we uncovered a copy of this LP (vinyl), put it on Ebay and sold it to a guy in Hiroshima who seems to be Ronald (Mike) Taylor's number one fan. Since then we tracked down another LP (Trio) and passed this on to our man in Hiroshima. Somehow I've also caught some of his enthusiasm and, knowing Mike died (walked into the sea) locally, I offered to try and track down his final resting place.'
'It seems that even on the day of his funeral (Feb 7 1969), many of the mourners went to the wrong cemetery but I can't find out which was the correct one! I've done some research at the local (Leigh) offices but so far no luck.
It's just a bit of a challenge to me at the moment.
Anything you could do to pick the brains of your fellows would be appreciated.'
Mike was a jazz composer, pianist and songwriter. Brought up by his grandparents in 
London and Kent, he recorded two albums for the Lansdowne series: Pendulum (1966) with drummer Jon Hiseman, bassist Tony Reeves and saxophonist Dave Tomlin) and Trio (1967) with Hiseman and bassists Jack Bruce and Ron Rubin. Original pressings are now extremely rare and expensive.
Three Taylor compositions were recorded by the band Cream, with lyrics by drummer Ginger Baker "Passing the Time", "Pressed Rat and Warthog" and "Those were the Days", all of which appeared on the band's August 1968 album Wheels of Fire. He was also much admired by the members of Neil Ardley's New Jazz Orchestra. Mike Taylor drowned in the River Thames near Leigh-on-Sea, Essex in January 1969, following years of heavy drug use (principally hashish and LSD). He had been homeless for three years, and his passing went almost entirely unremarked.
Pianist and bass player Ron Rubin went to Mike's funeral, but is not able to help a great deal. Ron writes: 'It was mid-winter, which must be why the poor fellow was wearing two vests and two pairs of trousers. I can't remember the name of the cemetery, but the enclosed cuttings may be of interest':
From a newspaper cutting: Mystery Of Body In Creek: 'Police are still trying to identify a man whose body was washed up at Leigh Creek on Sunday. Investigations ruled out thoughts that he was one of three wildfowlers lost off Foulness a fortnight ago, and apossible link with a cabin cruiser found wrecked on Shoebury Beach has also been discounted. He is aged between 25 and 30, 5ft. 8in. tall, of medium build, with shoulder-length dark brown hair, auburn moustache, a long and straggy full beard, straight nose, blue eyes and large ears with small lobes. He was wearing a cream striped shirt, two white vests, two pairs of trousers and brown shoes. The body had been in the water for about six or seven hours - perhaps less....'
From Ron's own notes: 'I had some very bad news a few weeks ago. Mike Taylor was washed up on the beach at Leigh-on-Sea. He'd been in the sea a matter of weeks, and nobody knew what he was doing round those parts. He had become very strange and eccentric in the last year or so. I knew him from about 1961 when he was very jolly and healthy and we played together on and off all the time. As I was working near Leigh-on-Sea with Humph the night before, I stayed the night at Leigh to go to the funeral which was a very sad little affair. It was so depressing and rather a shambles. The atmosphere was not enhanced by a windy out of season little seaside town..... '3.11
Eventually, Tony found the information he was looking for:
'Thanks for all your efforts in locating Mike. I've been right back to the beginning and rechecked all the information I'd been given and been out and about Essex cemeteries and finally it's paid off!'
'For anyone who may possibly be interested, Mike (Ronald Michael Taylor) is buried in Sutton Road Cemetery, Southend on Sea, grave 23588.'
'A slighly sad and neglected grave but even that carries some of Mike's spaced out narrative which says: "I dive from a springboard into cool clear water and yet I furnish my springboard with my experience so that my life is more than my action" M.T. 1.6.38 - 19.1.69 '
For more about Mike click here. For a review of the album Mike Taylor Remembered click here.
Koro Ito in Japan has been researching information about pianist Mike Taylor. You may recall that Tony Tomlin discovered the final resting place for Mike following the pianists tragic death (click here).
Koro has come across references to Mike in a book by Harry Shapiro about Graham Bond called The Mighty Shadow and wonders whether anyone can recall or add to the information there. Please contact us if you can.
Harry described how Graham and Mike shared a flat in Richmond. He points out that both Graham and Mike had common ground in that they were both orphans and both had pressures that disrupted their music. Mike was expected to run his family's newsagent's business but entered the world of advertising. Harry says that Graham '... recognised the originality of Mike’s talent and could empathise with the rejection that Mike suffered as an avant-gardist from the British jazz community'. Unlike Graham however, Mike was virtually a recluse and spent many hours sat at the piano playing and composing. 'He let slip many opportunities for his music to gain a wider audience'.
Duncan Heining has written about Mike Taylor in an article that you can read if you click here.
© Sandy Brown Jazz July 2010 - 2014