1. William Thomas Strayhorn was an American jazz composer, pianist, lyricist, and arranger who collaborated with bandleader and composer Duke Ellington for nearly three decades.
22 Facts About Billy Strayhorn
1. 2.
Billy Strayhorn spent many months of his childhood at his grandparents' house in Hillsborough.
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Billy Strayhorn became interested in music while living with her, playing hymns on her piano and listening to records on her Victrola record player.
4.
Billy Strayhorn worked odd jobs to earn enough money to buy his first piano, and took lessons from Charlotte Enty Catlin.
5.
Billy Strayhorn attended Westinghouse High School, later attended by jazz pianists Erroll Garner and Ahmad Jamal.
6.
Billy Strayhorn played in the school band, and studied under Carl McVicker, who had instructed Erroll Garner and Mary Lou Williams.
7.
Billy Strayhorn was introduced to the music of pianists like Art Tatum and Teddy Wilson at age 19.
8.
Billy Strayhorn saw Duke Ellington play in Pittsburgh in 1933, then met him in December 1938 after Ellington performed there again.
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Billy Strayhorn first explained, and then showed the bandleader how he would have arranged one of Ellington's own pieces.
10.
Billy Strayhorn worked for Ellington for the next 25 years as an arranger, composer, occasional pianist and collaborator until his death from cancer.
11.
Billy Strayhorn was a gifted composer and arranger who seemed to flourish in Duke's shadow.
12.
Billy Strayhorn composed the Duke Ellington orchestra's signature song, "Take the 'A' Train", and a number of other pieces that became part of the band's repertoire.
13.
Billy Strayhorn arranged many of Ellington's band-within-a-band recordings and provided harmonic clarity and polish to Duke's compositions.
14.
Ellington gave Billy Strayhorn full credit as his collaborator on later, larger works such as Such Sweet Thunder, A Drum Is a Woman, The Perfume Suite, and Far East Suite, where Billy Strayhorn and Ellington worked closely together.
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Billy Strayhorn often played the piano with the Ellington orchestra, both live and in the studio.
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Billy Strayhorn participated in the civil rights movement, and as a friend to Martin Luther King Jr.
17.
Billy Strayhorn had a major influence on the career of Lena Horne, who wanted to marry Billy Strayhorn and considered him the love of her life.
18.
Billy Strayhorn used his classical background to improve Horne's singing technique, and they recorded songs together.
19.
Billy Strayhorn released a few solo albums and revues for the Original Copasetics and took on theater productions with his friend Luther Henderson.
20.
In 1964, Billy Strayhorn was diagnosed with esophageal cancer, which took his life in the early morning of May 31,1967, when he was with his partner, Bill Grove, not in Lena Horne's arms as has often been falsely reported.
21.
Billy Strayhorn's ashes were scattered in the Hudson River by a gathering of his closest friends.
22.
In North Carolina, a highway historical marker honoring Billy Strayhorn is located in downtown Hillsborough, near his childhood home.