In the world of jazz, few names resonate with as much significance as Billy Strayhorn, prodigious composer, arranger, pianist, and lyricist whose influence not only molded the entire genre of jazz but also broke through barriers of race and sexuality at a time when both could have deadly consequences.
Born in Dayton, Ohio, in 1915, Strayhorn moved to Pittsburgh with his mother and father shortly after his birth. In order to protect him from his abusive father, he was sent to live with his grandmother in Hillsborough, North Carolina.
Strayhorn’s earliest exposure to music came in the early 1920s through the nurturing environment provided by his maternal grandmother who filled his days with hymns and jazz records played on her Victrola record player. In these early years of childhood Strayhorn forged a connection to music through his grandmother that would guide him the rest his life.
After reuniting with his mother in Pittsburgh, Strayhorn attended Westinghouse High School, an institution not unaccustomed to legendary talent, with jazz greats Erroll Garner and Ahmad Jamal both gracing its halls.
From a young age, Strayhorn was completely immersed in music, participating in his high school band and studying under Carl McVicker, instructor to both the aforementioned Erroll Garner as well as Mary Lou Williams, the later often credited for her role as the matriarch of bebop.
As a teenager Strayhorn blossomed while still in high school, writing musicals and forming a trio that played regularly on a local radio station. One of the most outstanding compositions of his entire life’s work, “Lush Life” (initially titled “Life Is Lonely”) was written during this time, capturing the essence of longing and melancholy that would define much of his work.
At just 19 years of age Strayhorn’s ambitions for a career in classical music shattered due to the racism of the classical music community of the day which was heavily dominated by white musicians at the time. Turning towards jazz, he found inspiration in the sophistication of Art Tatum and Teddy Wilson, paving the way for his legendary collaboration with Duke Ellington, a partnership that would influence the world of music forever.
Strayhorn’s first encounter with Ellington came at the age of 17 in 1933, a watershed moment in his life. After an electrifying performance by Ellington in Pittsburgh, Strayhorn boldly approached the bandleader, presenting his own take on Ellington’s compositions. Captivated by this bold, fearless, youth, Ellington invited Strayhorn to join him in New York. He would go on to work for Ellington as an arranger, composer, pianist and collaborator for the next 25 years.
Years later jazz historian Ted Gioia eloquently reflected on this historic first meeting, noting:
“The piece that caught Ellington’s attention that night, ‘Lush Life,’ stands out as one of the greatest jazz ballads, with its yearning melody line and the haunting poetry of its lyrics, supported by sweeping harmonies more characteristic of classical music than of Tin Pan Alley.”
As the years unfolded, Strayhorn became Ellington’s right hand; a quiet genius whose modest demeanor contrasted sharply with the charismatic, larger-than-life presence of his older collaborator, almost 20 years his senior. A gifted composer and arranger in his own write, Strayhorn flourished in Duke’s shadow. Arguably a father figure, Ellington and the members of his band were fiercely protective of the diminutive and mild-mannered Strayhorn, who nicknamed him “Strays”, “Weely”, and “Swee’ Pea”.
Ellington’s biographer, John Edward Hasse, said of Strayhorn:
“He so mastered the Ellington style of composing that the two became uncannily close musical collaborators, yet in their personal lives they were opposites. While the handsome, six-foot-one-inch Ellington moved through life with dash and theatricality, a charismatic and imposing presence wherever he went, both charming and manipulating people, bedding many women along the way, the cherubic Strayhorn was short, five-feet-three-inches tall, shy, soft-spoken, bespectacled, modest, and gay. Despite their different personalities, they formed an exceedingly close musical and working relationship that would end only with Strayhorn’s death.”
Ellington himself remarked:
“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.”
Against the backdrop of his spectacular musical ascendance, Strayhorn navigated the complexities of race and sexual identity. While he maintained a highly visible and active participation in the civil rights movement, cultivating friendships with icons like Martin Luther King Jr., his personal life was shaped by the struggles of an openly gay man in an era noted for its homophobia, racism and hostility towards anyone or any thing different than what was considered the norm at the time. His first serious romantic relationship, with African American musician Aaron Bridgers, was one of the defining features of his early adult life. They lived openly together as a gay couple until Bridgers moved to Paris in 1947.
As a musician, Strayhorn’s brilliance shone brightly. His compositions, such as the iconic “Take the ‘A’ Train”, a defining tune for the Ellington orchestra, demonstrated both ingenuity and depth. His “Sugar Hill Penthouse” section within Ellington’s bold 1943 work “Black, Brown and Beige” showcased Strayhorn’s sophisticated musical language, seamlessly blending classical influences with jazz forms to create something never heard before.
Strayhorn’s contributions to jazz extended far beyond arrangement and composition. Throughout the 1950s, he ventured into solo projects, recording a series of albums, while also working alongside legendary artists like Lena Horne. The intimate friendship that existed between Strayhorn and Horne blossomed into something much deeper, with Horne considering Strayhorn the love of her life.
In 1956 Strayhorn undertook a special assignment, working with singer Rosemary Clooney on her album Blue Rose. Ellington’s Orchestra recorded the instrumental tracks in New York, after which Strayhorn travelled to Los Angeles to supervise Clooney’s overdubbed vocals. Clooney, who was heavily pregnant at the time, suffered from nausea and found the recording sessions extremely difficult.
Strayhorn encouraged the sickly Clooney:
“Listen to me, honey. You’re in your house, and you’re sitting in your room. You turn the radio on and it’s Duke Ellington! That’s great! You love Duke Ellington. So you start singing along. You’re brushing your hair. You’re looking in the mirror, and you’re singing along to the radio. Okay?”
Clooney would later remark:
“That did it for me. I was all right from then on.”
In a later day retrospective on the album, All Music Guide said of the collaboration:
“The results are stunning. Clooney easily ranks as one of the greatest vocalists to appear on record with the maestro.”
Strayhorn’s undeniable talent transcended performance and composition. He possessed a profound ability to capture a subject’s essence, a quality recognized for his work on pivotal projects like the score for Otto Preminger’s 1959 film “Anatomy of a Murder.” His innovative score was heralded as a landmark in cinematic history, showcasing a fresh, new approach to jazz that defied stereotypes.
In 1960, Ellington & Strayhorn produced the seasonal album “The Nutcracker Suite”, an inspired jazz interpretation of Tchaikovsky’s beloved Christmas ballet. The collaboration, marked by Strayhorn’s genius for arranging , found recognition not only in the jazz community but also in classical circles, further broadening his artistic reach.
The following year, Ellington and Strayhorn traveled to Paris to compose the score for Martin Ritt’s film Paris Blues. Strayhorn’s weakness for the gay Paris nightlife often left Ellington working on the score alone. Ultimately Strayhorn wasn’t acknowledged in the film’s credits, even though the opening music in the movie is his signature composition “Take the ‘A’ Train”. A Jazz Times review at the time was critical of both the film and the score, although the latter was nominated for an Oscar. While in Paris, Strayhorn made his most important recording away from the Ellington and his prized orchestra, The Peaceful Side, released in 1963 by United Artists.
Another significant project during this time while Strayhorn was free from Ellington’s influence is the album Johnny Hodges with Billy Strayhorn and the Orchestra. Strayhorn arranged and conducted the music performed by the Duke Ellington Orchestra without Ellington himself with Jimmy Jones on piano. The album’s producer Creed Taylor said that in doing the record he wanted to:
“Showcase Strayhorn’s compositional and arranging colors, those gorgeous, liquid, dreamlike colors. I gave him free rein, and he produced a beautiful record.”
Ellington and Strayhorn completed their final major collaboration, Far East Suite, in 1966, while Strayhorn’s health was in serious decline. Ellington’s biographer John Edward Hasse noted:
“The suite is regarded by some as their best work since the early 1940s.”
Sadly, the album was not released until a month after Strayhorn died.
In his autobiography as well as in the spoken word passage “It’s Freedom” from 1968’s Second Sacred Concert, Ellington listed what he considered Strayhorn’s “four major moral freedoms”:
“Freedom from hate, unconditionally. Freedom from self-pity, even through all the pain and bad news. Freedom from fear of possibly doing something that might possibly help another more than it might himself and freedom from the kind of pride that might make a man think that he was better than his brother or his neighbor.”
Jazz pianist Fred Hersch wrote of Strayhorn:
“He was a quadruple threat: a great composer of jazz tunes, a first-rate jazz pianist, a remarkable songwriter, music and lyrics, and one of the all-time great arrangers for jazz orchestra.”
While in the hospital, Strayhorn submitted his final composition to Ellington; “Blood Count”, the third track on Ellington’s 1968 memorial album for Strayhorn, …And His Mother Called Him Bill, recorded several months after Strayhorn’s death.
The last track of the album is a solo version of Strayhorn’s “Lotus Blossom” performed by Ellington, who sat at the piano and played it while the band, who can be heard in the background, were packing up after the formal end of the recording session.
Strayhorn died in New York City on May 31, 1967, aged 51, after battling cancer for three years. His partner, Bill Grove, was with Strayhorn at the time of his death. He scattered his ashes in the Hudson River, a fitting tribute to a man whose life was deeply immersed within the essence of New York City.
Billy Strayhorn’s journey was that of a singularly unique and exceptionally talented man who overcame, hatred, misunderstanding and prejudice in the times he lived in and flourished, in spite of it. A true testament to resilience in the face of what must have seemed like insurmountable barriers at the time.
His indelible influence on jazz has forged a path for future generations, embodying a core of personal expression which continues to inspire and inform to this very day. Reflecting on how boldly Strayhorn lived his life and all his immeasurable achievements, one is reminded of how the very beat of jazz pulsates with the stories of those who dared defy convention, and in doing so, created a legacy that is forever inspiring.