Jazz legend Cecil Taylor, known for his wild improvisations, was robbed of nearly half a million dollars. A general contractor from Uniondale is the suspected culprit.

According to News Day, the legendary pianist, Cecil Taylor, was robbed after it was announced that he won the Kyoto prize which entitled him to a reward of 50 million Yen ($492,000 plus) but was unfortunately robbed from him.

Authorities say that 54-year-old Noel Muir is the one to blame.

Muir reportedly turned himself in to the King's Country district attorney's office and is scheduled to be arraigned on Tuesday in Brooklyn Criminal Court for second-degree grand larceny.

Cecil Taylor was scheduled to receive his award along with the prize money last year but Muir, whom he met and befriended prior to his trip to Japan, robbed him by instructing the Inamori Foundation of Japan to send the prize to his own bank account and "falsely stated that the name on the account is The Cecil Taylor Foundation, when, in fact, the name on the account is actually MCAI Construction," prosecutors said.

If proven guilty for the Cecil Taylor robbery, Muir will face up to 15 years in prison.

A press conference was held to announce the arrest of Muir but the Jazz legend did not want to talk about the case, The New York Times reported.

Reporters tried to probe the pianist but he was quick to change the subject. When asked how he found out about the fraud, he answered: "I had friends working on it; they're here right now."

"I've had a good time in my life. Mostly I did because I asked my mother for piano lessons when I was 5, and she said, 'I'll think about it,'" he continued.

"Yes, but that wasn't important," was what Taylor said when questioned about Muir's presence in his Kyoto trip. And was quick to say "Nothing. Does not exist," when asked for his opinion on Muir. "What is painful in your life if you have friends? That's what friends are for. How unhappy he must be, but that's on him," he added.

Asked about receiving the Kyoto prize, Taylor said "it was a thrilling moment."

Taylor was also a recipient of a MacArthur fellowship and a Guggenheim fellowship.