(Photo of Billy Strayhorn by William P. Gottlieb, now in the Prints and Photographs Division of the U.S. Library of Congress.)
Happy birthday to super-composer Billy Strayhorn, who was born on this day in 1915.
Billy Strayhorn is best known as the composing partner of Duke Ellington; together they created classic tunes like “Lush Life,” “Satin Doll,” and “Take the ‘A’ Train.” (The latter tune was said to be inspired by the subway directions Duke Ellington gave to Strayhorn for their first meeting in Manhattan.)
Ellington was already a famous and fabulous bandleader when the two met in 1939. Strayhorn started out helping the Duke with lyrics and arrangements, but then became something more like an alter ego:
Unlike Ellington, Strayhorn was schooled in the European masters. He not only lightened Ellington’s burden as a composer of music for the orchestra, but also contributed many ideas, particularly in harmony. Strayhorn had great sensitivity to the Ellington sound and understood its underpinnings and structure.
While Strayhorn evidently composed in a straightforward, linear fashion, Ellington seems to have sometimes manipulated passages, sections, and phrases, recording them until he got the desired result, almost as if these units were a child’s wooden alphabet blocks.
As the photo above shows, Billy Strayhorn was also known for looking so darn young. He was about 32 when that photo was taken, and (alas) smoking the cigarettes that contributed to his death. He was diagnosed with esophogeal cancer in 1964 and died of the disease in 1967, only 51 years old. (No truth to the weird rumor that he died in the arms of singer Lena Horne.)
Duke Ellington “entered a deep funk” after Strayhorn’s death, and (taking a doctor’s advice) he recorded a tribute album a few months later: …And His Mother Called Him Bill.
Now see our full biography of Billy Strayhorn »
From the Who2 blog:
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| Tags: | Back In the Day, Billy Strayhorn, Celebrity Deaths, Duke Ellington, Jazz, Jazz Legends, Lena Horne |