Jazz Legends

Billy Strayhorn (Round 3)

Pianist, Composer/Arranger Billy Strayhorn (born Nov 29, 1915) is often more or less dismissed as Duke Ellington’s alter ego, but he was so much no more than that. He was a true musical genius in his own right. 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." His compositions are uniquely Strayhorn, harmonically, melodically, and lyrically.