Results for "Billy Strayhorn"
About Billy Strayhorn
Instrument: Piano
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Billy Strayhorn

Born:
If you are familiar with the jazz composition, "Take the A Train," then you know something about not only Duke Ellington, but also Billy "Sweet Pea" Strayhorn, its composer. Strayhorn joined Ellington's band in 1939, at the age of twenty-two. Ellington liked what he saw in Billy and took this shy, talented pianist under his wings. Neither one was sure what Strayhorn's function in the band would be, but their musical talents had attracted each other. By the end of the year Strayhorn had become essential to the Duke Ellington Band; arranging, composing, sitting-in at the piano. Billy made a rapid and almost complete assimilation of Ellington's style and technique
Charles Lloyd: Trios: Chapel

by Dan McClenaghan
Blue Note Records has a history of boasting strong stables of players. In the 1950s and 60s, we could look to Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, trumpeter Lee Morgan, pianist Herbie Hancock, saxophonist Wayne Shorter--and if ever there was an incomplete list compiled, that one is it. Time rolls on. Twenty years (or thereabouts) into ...
Cool and Groovy Vibes for a Hot Summer Night

by David Brown
This week, a cool and groovy mix for a hot summer night. Sets with string quartets, vibraphone vibes, burning roller-coaster rides, and dancing with ants in your pants. Playlist Thelonious Monk Esistrophy (Theme)" from Live at the It Club--Complete (Columbia) 00:30 Valaida Snow I Can't Dance" from Valaida Snow 1933-1936 (The Classics Chronological Series ...
Joel Frahm at Jazz At The Joint

by C. Michael Bailey
Joel Frahm Jazz At The Joint North Little Rock, AR July 11, 2022 Synergy. The word was first used in 1600, derived from the Greek συνεργός ("synergos"), which means to work together" or to cooperate," with the corollary that the results of this cooperation" afford an output greater than the sum ...
Vicki Burns: Lotus Blossom Days

by Jeff Winbush
Whatever else can be said about jazz, there is little disagreement that it is best experienced in a live setting. Listening to Vicki Burns' Lotus Blossom Days is as close to a front-row seat in a New York nightclub as many of us are likely to get in these times of high fuel costs and crowded ...
Naama Gheber: I’m A Fool To Want You

by C. Michael Bailey
Vocalist Naama Gheber is applying a different paradigm to the release of her second recording, the EP If I Knew Then, presently due for release in November 2022. She previously released the single Old Mother Hubbard" and now follows it with a starkly fashioned I'm A Fool To Want You." Gheber released her debut recording Dearly ...
June 2022: Constellations

by C. Michael Bailey
ChimyTina Constellations La Reserve 2022 ChimyTina is a collision moniker for the duo of bassist Dan Chimy" Chmeilinski and vocalist Martina DaSilva. They are part of a daring group of singers/bassists perfecting the most musically intimate of performance formats. With the bass as the harmony" instrument supporting a vocalist, ...
Richard Nixon & Spiro Agnew: Dick & Spiro Play Duke & Billy

by Ken Dryden
Anyone who has read much history probably knows that President Richard Nixon once serenaded ex-President Harry Truman during a White House visit by playing Missouri Waltz" on the piano in his honor (he was unaware that Truman hated the song). But history buffs may overlook that Nixon's Vice President, Spiro Agnew also played piano and was ...
Bill Charlap: Intellect And Emotion

by R.J. DeLuke
"I don't ever remember a time when I didn't play the piano," reflects pianist Bill Charlap, who has become one of the giants of his generation on his instrument of choice, as evidenced by the array of other great players with whom he has performed. With his deft and agile approach he can summon a fiery ...
Sean Fyfe Quartet: Late Night

by Jack Bowers
The opening number on pianist Sean Fyfe's latest album, Late Night, is Happy," which could serve as a subtext for the album as a whole. Even when performing a solo rendition of Billy Strayhorn's mournful Lush Life," Fyfe somehow manages to sound happy, lending a sunny counterweight to the heart-breaking sense of loss that permeates Strayhorn's ...