Later this month, April 15-24, the virtuoso pianist Cecil Taylor will be in concert at the Whitney Museum as part of its Open Plan, an experimental five-part exhibition series. Taylor should be in a celebratory mood because of the recent report that the man who bilked him out his prize money has been sentenced to one to three years in prison.
Noel Muir, a contractor who lived next door to Taylor in Brooklyn, pleaded guilty to larceny after stealing nearly $500,000 in prize money from the famed artist. Muir was working on Taylor’s brownstone in Fort Greene when he befriended Taylor, accompanied him to Japan to pick up the Kyoto Prize award in 2013.
But the Long Island contractor, representing Taylor, arranged for the check to be deposited in his Citibank account. He had apparently duped the Japanese foundation into believing that the account was in Taylor’s name.
Muir had returned $200,000 of the award and promised to return the rest.
Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson said that Muir, “shamefully bilked an elderly, vulnerable man.”
“In doing so,” Thompson stated, “the defendant pretended to Cecil Taylor’s friend, but this guilty plea and sentence show that he was just a thief.”
Many of Taylor’s true friends are sure to be at the Whitney when the acclaimed musician is again at the keyboard.
In a move to recover the money, Thompson said his office has filed a civil asset forfeiture action against the defendant in Brooklyn Supreme Court.
When asked if he still performs, Taylor, a McArthur Fellowship, or “genius grant,” awardee said, “No.”