Jump for Joy It’s Billy Strayhorn’s Birthday
🍾 Billy Strayhorn was born on November 29, 1915 in Dayton, Ohio. He was a composer, pianist, lyricist, and arranger celebrated for his unforgettable collaborations with composer (the greatest in the 20th century) and bandleader Duke Ellington. A collaboration that lasted 29 years.
Strayhorn’s compositions, arrangements and lyrics to “Take the A Train” ,”Chelsea Bridge”, “A Flower is a Lovesome Thing”, “Lush Life” and “My Little Brown Book” changed the trajectory of Ellington’s career. Strayhorn lent another sound and movement to the bandleader’s style. They were a dynamic duo, especially when it came to such genius works as “Such Sweet Thunder”, “A Drum is a Woman”, “The Perfume Suite” and “The Far East Suite” — and, not to leave out, the 1959 film score “Anatomy of a Murder“. This film was one of the first to be scored for a major Hollywood studio by African-Americans. Together they wrote the musical, Jump for Joy, a musical revue and a commentary on racism in the United States.
Strayhorn was a child prodigy with dreams of becoming a classical composer — but the walls of segregation and racism blocked that door. However, after hearing the music of pianists Art Tatum and Teddy Wilson, he was inspired to enter the world of jazz. Strayhorn was instrumental in writing the touching soundtrack for Paris Blues (1961) — Paris was Strayhorn’s regular vacation spot where he often played with the local musicians. At the age of 17, he wrote the lyrics to “Lush Life”. The song’s subject matter was far above his chronological years, “rot with the rest whose lives are lonely too”. He wrote his biggest hit “Take the A Train” for Ellington while he rode the “A” train to a band rehearsal uptown in Harlem. The song describes the culture and lifestyle of the of New York City’s African-American Harlem residents.
“Billy Strayhorn was my right arm, my left arm, all the eyes in the back of my head, my brain waves in his head, and his in mine,” explained Ellington. It’s a pity that even with those accolades from one of the world’s greatest bandleaders, Strayhorn never quite received the much deserved acclaim for his contributions to the Jazz genre.
Being a young African-American man, in the racist United States, was dangerous enough (at the height of the KKK, lynchings and segregation), but being the first openly gay jazz musician wasn’t easy — he was unafraid of public opinion. He was a strong advocate of the civil rights movement and a close friend of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In 1963, he arranged and conducted “King Fit the Battle of Alabama” for Ellington’s orchestra for the stage revue and the album My People, dedicated to King. He was a former president of The Copasetics, an ensemble of Harlem’s most prominent hoofers/tap dancers formed in honor of Bill Bojangles Robinson.
In November 2021, Strayhorn was posthumously inducted into the Great American Songbook Hall of Fame. His compositions were the sound and soul of the United States. Singers and musicians of all ages sing and record his songs. His music is taught and discussed in many educational institutions. He is included in the canons of great artists and composers — like his mentor and collaborator Duke Ellington.
Learn more about this genius — watch the documentary — Billy Strayhorn: Lush Life.
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