William Thomas Strayhorn was an American jazz composer, pianist, lyricist, and arranger who collaborated with bandleader and composer Duke Ellington for nearly three decades. His compositions include "Take the 'A' Train," "Chelsea Bridge," "A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing," and "Lush Life".
"Take the 'A' Train" is a jazz standard by Billy Strayhorn that was the signature tune of the Duke Ellington orchestra.
Ella at Duke's Place is a 1965 studio album by Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington, accompanied by his Orchestra. While it was the second studio album made by Fitzgerald and Ellington, following the 1957 song book recording, a live double album Ella and Duke at the Cote D'Azur was recorded in 1966. Ella at Duke’s Place was nominated for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 1967 Grammy Awards.
The Stockholm Concert, 1966 is a 1966 live album by the American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, accompanied in part by the Duke Ellington Orchestra. The recording remained unreleased until 1984.
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Song Book is a 1957 studio album by the American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, accompanied by Duke Ellington and his orchestra, focusing on Ellington's songs.
"My One and Only Love" is a 1953 popular song with music written by Guy Wood and lyrics by Robert Mellin. Notable renditions by Frank Sinatra (1953), and later by John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman (1963), have made the song part of the jazz standard musical repertoire.
John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman is a studio album by John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman which was released by Impulse! Records in July or August 1963. It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2013.
Lush Life is an album by jazz musician John Coltrane, released in early 1961 on Prestige Records. It was assembled from previously unissued tracks from three recording sessions at Van Gelder Studio in Hackensack, New Jersey in 1957 and 1958. As Coltrane's profile increased during the 1960s, some years after the end of his Prestige contract, the label used unissued recordings to create new albums without Coltrane's input or approval.
"Day Dream" is a jazz standard composed by Billy Strayhorn with lyrics by John Latouche and written in 1939. It was first recorded by saxophonist Johnny Hodges and his ensemble on November 2, 1940. Duke Ellington was credited as co-composer on the label of the original 78 RPM release, though he is not generally considered to be one of the song's creators.
Lush Life: The Music of Billy Strayhorn is an album by the jazz saxophonist Joe Henderson. Composed of songs written by Billy Strayhorn, the album was a critical and commercial success, leading to the first of three Grammy Awards Henderson would receive while under contract with Verve Records. The album had sold nearly 90,000 copies at the time of Henderson's death in 2001 and has been re-released by Verve, Polygram, and in hybrid SACD format by Universal. Musicians on the album are trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, pianist Stephen Scott, bassist Christian McBride and drummer Gregory Hutchinson.
"Chelsea Bridge" (1941) is an impressionistic jazz standard composed by Billy Strayhorn.
Masterpieces by Ellington is the first LP album by American pianist, composer, and bandleader Duke Ellington, recorded for the Columbia label in 1950. It was one of the earliest 12-inch LPs to take advantage of the extended time available and consisted of four tracks, three of them "concert arrangements" of Ellington standards and one, "The Tattooed Bride," a recent tone poem.
Dedicated to You: Kurt Elling Sings the Music of Coltrane and Hartman is a 2009 live album by Kurt Elling, recorded at the Lincoln Center's American Songbook series.
The Greatest Jazz Concert in the World is a 1967 live album featuring Duke Ellington and his orchestra, Ella Fitzgerald, Oscar Peterson, T-Bone Walker, Coleman Hawkins, Clark Terry and Zoot Sims. It was released in 1975.
"Isfahan" is a jazz piece credited to Billy Strayhorn and Duke Ellington and released on Ellington's 1967 album The Far East Suite; Isfahan is a city in Iran. It features long-time Ellington soloist Johnny Hodges on alto saxophone. It was originally called Elf when Strayhorn composed it, months before the 1963 Ellington orchestra world tour during which the group traveled to Iran.
Something to Live For: A Billy Strayhorn Songbook is an album by the pianist John Hicks, recorded in 1997 and released on the HighNote label. The album contains ten compositions by Billy Strayhorn, along with two by Hicks.
Cue for Saxophone is an album by pianist and composer Billy Strayhorn's Septet comprising members of the Duke Ellington Orchestra recorded in 1959 and originally released on the Felsted label in 1959, then reissued by Vocalion in 1962.
Duke's in Bed is an album recorded by American jazz saxophonist Johnny Hodges with members of the Duke Ellington Orchestra featuring performances recorded in 1956 and released on the Verve label. All arrangements were done by Billy Strayhorn.
Thank You for Everything is a studio album by American jazz vocalist Johnny Hartman, released in 1998 by Audiophile Records. The material was originally recorded in mid-1976 for two episodes of Alec Wilder's National Public Radio series entitled American Popular Song. Each episode focused on one composer, and Hartman chose works by Billy Strayhorn and Cole Porter. Most of the songs from the two episodes are included on Thank You for Everything and marked the first time they had been commercially released.
