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About Billy Strayhorn
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Billy Strayhorn
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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
Jeff Colella Putter Smith: Between Friends
by Pierre Giroux
Jeff Colella and Putter Smith are like peas in a pod, having made music together long enough to know that trust is more valuable than show. Between Friends is built on that trust from the opening notes, and neither musician ever seems to be trying to impress the other. Instead, they listen with uncommon patience, letting ...
Lucy Yeghiazaryan: Serious And Seriously Talented
by R.J. DeLuke
Lucy Yeghiazaryan is one of the most compelling jazz vocalists to emerge in recent years. Especially in New York, where she regularly performs in the city's jazz clubs, audiences have been drawn to her rich, powerful tone and her ability to bring an enchanting emotional depth to every lyric. Those qualities, along with her ...
Leon Buckley Quartet At Scott's Jazz Club
by Ian Patterson
Leon Buckley QuartetScott's Jazz Club Jazz Futures Belfast, N. Ireland July 24, 2026 There is nothing like a good typo to induce the titters. Hats off to the Belfast gig guide who listed this one as the 'Leon Bucket Quarter.' It could have been worse. In a 1631 reprint ...
Norma Winstone: A Timeless Place
by Neil Duggan
This 1990 recording unites the outstanding vocal talents of Norma Winstone MBE with the NDR Radio Orchestra. Now known as NDR RADIOPHILHARMONIE, the distinguished German radio symphony orchestra, invited Winstone to participate in a broadcast session. In turn, she enlisted pianist and arranger Steve Gray, with whom she had previously collaborated on BBC projects.
Ella Fitzgerald: Ella Fitzgerald Live at Falkoner Theatre Copnhagen 1966
by Jack Kenny
The night before Ella Fitzgerald's historic concert with Duke Ellington in Stockholm, she played two concerts in Copenhagen. For Ella Fitzgerald, this was like playing at home because she had an apartment in the city. It was one place where she felt relaxed and it shows in the music. It is Fitzgerald at her most at ...
Chris Hazelton: In Rotation
by Jack Bowers
Here is a quartet with an interesting makeup: leader Chris Hazelton on Hammond B3 organ backed by saxophone, vibraphone and drums. It is a sizable departure from the norm, one that can separate an album from the herd and lend it a bracing and singular voice or, if not managed properly, lead to series of relatively ...
Virginia MacDonald: In Search Of A New Clarinet Renaissance
by John Chacona
The clarinet occupies an unusual space in jazz in the 2020s. Once a lead instrument with advocates who graced the covers of fanzines for music and popular culture, the clarinet now stands 20 Feet From Stardom as the title of the 2013 documentary film about background singers described. It's a common enough double for reed players, ...
Robert Jospe Quartet: The Night Sky
by Jack Bowers
Virginia-based drummer Robert Jospe leads an able quartet on The Night Sky, the ninth recording under his name. The music, much of which was written or co-written by Jospe, is for the most part robust and rhythm-heavy with Jospe's assertive drum kit and Daniel Clarke's busy keyboards front and center. The mood changes abruptly--delightfully ...
David Janeway: David Janeway Trio/Live At Blue Llama
by Pierre Giroux
Live at Blue LLama by the David Janeway Trio was recorded in June 2024 at the Blue LLama Jazz Club in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and it is the kind of album that is unforced, deeply conversational, and grounded in a shared musical trust. Pianist Janeway has long valued rhythmic authority and melodic clarity over display and ...
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