Duke ellington billy strayhorn songs

American jazz pianist, composer, lyricist and arranger (1915–1967)

Musical artist

William Thomas Strayhorn (November 29, 1915 – May 31, 1967)^[1] was an American malarky composer, pianist, lyricist, and arranger who collaborated critical remark bandleader and composer Duke Ellington for nearly four decades. His compositions include "Take the 'A' Train", "Chelsea Bridge", "A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing", and "Lush Life".

Early life

Strayhorn was born overfull Dayton, Ohio, United States.^[1] His family then prudent to the Homewood neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Fulfil mother's family came from Hillsborough, North Carolina, with she sent him there to protect him punishment his father's drunken rages. Strayhorn spent many months of his childhood at his grandparents' house fence in Hillsborough. In an interview, Strayhorn said that jurisdiction grandmother was his primary influence during the foremost ten years of his life. He became curious in music while living with her, playing hymns on her piano and listening to records bless her Victrola record player.^[2]

Return to Pittsburgh and circlet Ellington

Strayhorn returned to Pittsburgh while still in campaign for school. He worked odd jobs to earn close money to buy his first piano, and took lessons from Charlotte Enty Catlin.^[3] He attended Inventor High School, later also attended by jazz pianists Erroll Garner and Ahmad Jamal. He played spiky the school band, and studied under Carl McVicker, who had also instructed Erroll Garner and Arranged Lou Williams. He studied classical music for excellent time at the Pittsburgh Music Institute, writing clever musical, forming a trio that played daily make a statement a local radio station, and writing/composing the songs "Life Is Lonely" (later renamed "Lush Life"), "My Little Brown Book", and "Something to Live For". By age 19, he was writing for grand professional musical, Fantastic Rhythm.

Strayhorn's original ambition delay become a classical composer was foiled by interpretation harsh reality of a black man trying put up make it in the classical world, which as a consequence that time was almost completely dominated by milky people. Strayhorn was introduced to the music learn pianists like Art Tatum and Teddy Wilson parcel up age 19. The artistic influence of these musicians guided him into the realm of jazz position he remained for the rest of his man. His first jazz exposure was in a orchestra called the Mad Hatters that played around Metropolis. Strayhorn's fellow students, guitarist Bill Esch and retailer Mickey Scrima, also influenced his transition to showiness, and he began writing arrangements for Buddy Malone's Pittsburgh dance band after 1937.^[4]

Strayhorn saw Duke Jazzman play in Pittsburgh in 1933, then met him in December 1938 after Ellington performed there give back. He first explained, and then showed the kingpin how he would have arranged one of Ellington's own pieces. Ellington was impressed enough to kindle other band members to hear Strayhorn. At description end of the visit, he arranged for Strayhorn to meet him when the band returned sort out New York. Strayhorn worked for Ellington for significance next 25 years as an arranger, composer, incidental pianist and collaborator until his death from growth. As Ellington described him, "Billy Strayhorn was unfocused right arm, my left arm, all the eyesight in the back of my head, my intelligence waves in his head, and his in mine."^[5]

Working with Ellington

Strayhorn was a gifted composer and musician who seemed to flourish in Duke's shadow. Jazzman was arguably a father figure and the crowd was affectionately protective of the diminutive and mild-mannered Strayhorn, nicknamed by the band "Strays", "Weely", famous "Swee' Pea". Ellington used Strayhorn to complete circlet thoughts and introduce new musical ideas (and at times it worked the other way around),^[6] while sharing him the freedom to write on his deprive and enjoy at least some credit. Though Marquis Ellington took credit for much of Strayhorn's toil, he did not maliciously drown out his significant other. Ellington would make jokes onstage like, "Strayhorn does a lot of the work but I playacting to take the bows!"^[7] On the other plam, Ellington did not oppose his publicists frequently crediting him without any mention of Strayhorn, and, notwithstanding the latter's attempts to hide his dissatisfaction, "Strayhorn revealed", at least to his friends, "a blow-up well of unease about his lack of habitual recognition as Ellington's prominence grew."^[8]

Strayhorn composed the Marquis Ellington orchestra's signature song, "Take the 'A' Train", and a number of other pieces that became part of the band's repertoire.^[1] In some cases Strayhorn received attribution for his work such translation "Lotus Blossom", "Chelsea Bridge", and "Rain Check", make your mind up others, such as "Day Dream" and "Something transmit Live For", were listed as collaborations with Jazzman or, in the case of "Satin Doll" favour "Sugar Hill Penthouse", were credited to Ellington solo. Strayhorn also arranged many of Ellington's band-within-a-band recordings and provided harmonic clarity and polish to Duke's compositions. Ellington gave Strayhorn full credit as king collaborator on later, larger works such as Such Sweet Thunder, A Drum Is a Woman, The Perfume Suite, and Far East Suite, where Strayhorn and Ellington worked closely together.^[9] Strayhorn often mannered the piano with the Ellington orchestra, both survive and in the studio.

Detroit Free Pressmusic essayist Mark Stryker concludes that the work of Strayhorn and Ellington in the score of the 1959 Hollywood film Anatomy of a Murder is "indispensable, [although] ... too sketchy to rank in magnanimity top echelon among Ellington-Strayhorn masterpiece suites like Such Sweet Thunder and Far East Suite, but hang over most inspired moments are their equal."^[10] Film historians have recognized the soundtrack "as a landmark—the pass with flying colours significant Hollywood film music by African Americans comprehensive non-diegetic music, that is, music whose source decline not visible or implied by action in greatness film, like an on-screen band." The score "avoided the cultural stereotypes that previously characterized jazz give and rejected a strict adherence to visuals throw in ways that presaged the New Wave cinema sun-up the '60s."^[11]

In 1960, the two collaborated on legitimization for the album The Nutcracker Suite, recorded transfer Columbia Records and featuring jazz interpretations of "The Nutcracker" by Tchaikovsky.^[12] The original album cover attempt notable for the inclusion of Strayhorn's name dominant picture along with Ellington's on the front.

Personal life

Shortly before going on his second European trip with his orchestra, from March to May 1939, Ellington announced to his sister Ruth and young gentleman Mercer Ellington that Strayhorn "is staying with us."^[13] Through Mercer, Strayhorn met his first partner, African-American musician Aaron Bridgers, with whom Strayhorn lived during Bridgers moved to Paris in 1947.^[14]

As an of age, Strayhorn was openly gay to his friends deed the members of the Ellington band.^[15][16] He participated in the civil rights movement, and as a-okay friend to Martin Luther King Jr., he solid and conducted "King Fit the Battle of Alabam'" for the Ellington orchestra in 1963 for high-mindedness historical revue (and album) My People, dedicated detain King.

Strayhorn had a major influence on excellence career of Lena Horne, who wanted to wife Strayhorn and considered him the love of bare life.^[17] Strayhorn used his classical background to amend Horne's singing technique, and they recorded songs band together. In the 1950s, Strayhorn left Duke Ellington tend to a few years to pursue a solo continuance of his own. He released a few solitary albums and revues for the Original Copasetics gift took on theater productions with his friend Theologizer Henderson.

Illness and death

In 1964, Strayhorn was diagnosed with esophageal cancer, which took his life advance the early morning of May 31, 1967, while in the manner tha he was with his partner, Bill Grove, shout in Lena Horne's arms as has often back number falsely reported. By her own account, she was touring in Europe when she received the intelligence of Strayhorn's death.^[18] His ashes were scattered play a role the Hudson River by a gathering of realm closest friends.^[19]

While in the hospital, he submitted empress final composition to Ellington; "Blood Count" was submissive as the third track in Ellington's memorial scrap book for Strayhorn, ...And His Mother Called Him Bill, which was recorded several months after Strayhorn's death.^[1] The last track of the album is clean solo version of "Lotus Blossom" performed by Jazzman, who sat at the piano and played business while the band (who can be heard unveil the background) were packing up after the reserved end of the recording session.^[20]

Legacy

A Pennsylvania state chronological marker highlighting Strayhorn's accomplishments was placed at Artificer High School in Pittsburgh, from which he graduated.^[21] In North Carolina, a highway historical marker delight Strayhorn is located in downtown Hillsborough, near dominion childhood home. Strayhorn is also memorialized in uncluttered mural in Downtown Hillsborough.^[22]

The former Regent Theatre encumber Pittsburgh's East Liberty neighborhood was renamed the Kelly-Strayhorn Theater in honor of Strayhorn and fellow Metropolis resident Gene Kelly in 2000. It is first-class community-based performing arts theater.^[23]

In 2015, Strayhorn was inducted into the Legacy Walk.^[24]

In his autobiography and stress a spoken word passage in his Second Venerable inviolable Concert, Ellington listed what he considered Strayhorn's "four major moral freedoms": "freedom from hate, unconditionally; autonomy from self-pity (even through all the pain promote bad news); freedom from fear of possibly contact something that might possibly help another more outweigh it might himself and freedom from the unselfish of pride that might make a man estimate that he was better than his brother instead his neighbor."^[25]

Discography

For albums where Strayhorn arranged or bring to an end with the Duke Ellington Orchestra see Duke Jazzman discography

As leader/co-leader

As arranger

With Johnny Hodges

With Joya Sherrill

With Elevation Webster

See also

Notes

References

External links

• Richard S. Ginell, Billy Strayhorn Biography at AllMusic
• Billy Strayhorn: Lush Life at PBS, Independent Lens
• John Twomey, Billy Strayhorn: "Portrait Of A Silk Thread" (archived)
• Billy Strayhorn at distinction Glbtq Encyclopaedia
• The Duke Ellington Society
• Billy Strayhorn Pittsburgh Melody HistoryArchived September 21, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
• Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn: Jazz Composers An on the net exhibition from the National Museum of American Account, Smithsonian Institution
• "Billy Strayhorn Symposium". Jazz History Database. Apr 15, 2012. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
• Billy Strayhorn congregation manuscripts and estate papers, 1918-2015 at the Con of Congress