November the 29th is the birthday of one of my favorite composers, somebody that I'd argue ranks among the finest composers America has ever produced -- Billy Strayhorn. His songs -- "Lush Life," "Chelsea Bridge," "Day Dream," "Something to Live For," and many more -- are daringly complex, both musically and emotionally, but they're never forced or artificial.
Strayhorn is best know for his long collaboration with Duke Ellington (who is to jazz composers as Shakespeare is to playwrights) on everything from popular songs to movie scores to extended orchestral works. He was so much a part of Ellington's musical life that, in his memoir, Music is My Mistress, Ellington called him "my right arm, my left arm... the eyes in the back of my head." Strayhorn's composition "Take the 'A' Train" became the Ellington Orchestra's theme song and its greatest hit. (It's the first music you'll hear in the video clip below.)
Charles “Teenie” Harris: Duke Ellington at piano, dancer Honey Coles (left), and Billy Strayhorn (center), Stanley Theatre, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, c. 1942-43. Teenie Harris Archive. © 2006 Carnegie Museum of Art. [Click on photo to see much larger version.]
Strayhorn grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and, appropriately enough, the photo above was made by Charles "Teenie" Harris, who chronicled African-American life in Pittsburgh from the 1930s to the 1970s. Now, over a decade after his death, Harris's work is being rediscovered. He left behind a magnificent archive, and much of it is now on display in a major exhibition at Pittsburgh's Carnegie Museum of Art.
Billy Strayhorn: Lush Life, Independent Lens
This video can serve as a quick introduction to Strayhorn. It's a clip from a terrific documentary about him that aired on PBS, a few years back.
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Earlier this month, I reviewed Terell Stafford's fine new CD of Strayhorn's music for Ellingtonia, the publication of the Duke Ellington Society. I won't ask you to read the review, but if you click here and scroll down, you'll discover a video of Stafford and his quintet playing a joyful version of Stayhorn's "Johnny Come Lately."
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