Billy Strayhorn, "Swee Pea," passed away this day in 1967 of cancer. He was only 51. As his life and music is becoming a growing topic of interest, I thought it would be great to share a little of his genius here. Billy Strayhorn's melodies were angular and broad in range. His harmonies were lush, his orchestrations- hazy and impressionist. He was also very particular at sticking to a melodic or rhythmic fragment - or "motif" - and stretching it over a longer body of music, developing a bigger idea using small building blocks. Here's a great example of this: his intro to "What Good Would It Do," recorded in 1942 by Duke Ellington's Orchestra. He focuses on a single note in the solo trumpet and the bass - "C" and we see how that note gradually becomes dissonant against each ensemble chord. Note the clashing C in the trumpets against B major in the trombones towards the end. Later, that C becomes the C7 resolving to F major. A very simple cadence in western popular and classical music. *But this is black American, jazz music we are listening to.* That's the beauty of Billy Strayhorn. His interests in music were very broad and he applied his imagination to jazz.... Becoming who Quincy Jones called the "boss of arrangers." Enjoy this rare audio clip!
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