ESSENTIALLY ELLINGTON
Week 5: The 1940s cont’d!
Duke with his right-hand and kindred spirit, Billy Strayhorn
“Billy Strayhorn was my right arm, my left arm, all the eyes in the back of my head, my brainwaves in his head, and his in mine.”
― Duke Ellington
A word from Darrell:
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 wing. 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. It was difficult to discern where one's style ended and the other's began. The results of the Ellington-Strayhorn collaboration brought much joy to the jazz world.
This week we continue our 1940s exploration of Duke Ellington’s Music, a decade that had Billy Strayhorn’s fingerprints and collaboration all over it. We’ll play a mixture of just Duke Ellington compositions along with some Billy Strayhorn classics like “Chelsea Bridge,” “Day Dream,” and "Take the ‘A’ Train,” Duke’s theme song until he died.
—Dr. Darrell Smith
A thought from Bret:
At the eulogy he gave his soul mate, Duke Ellington listed what he considered Strayhorn's "four major moral freedoms":
"…freedom from hate, unconditionally; freedom from self-pity (even through all the pain and bad news); freedom from fear of possibly doing something that might possibly help another more than it might himself and freedom from the kind of pride that might make a man think that he was better than his brother or his neighbor.”
This remarkable expression and tribute moves and inspires me every time I read it. Should we all aspire to Strayhorn’s moral freedom.
I’m particularly excited about tonight’s Ellington program—on a personal note—as my family now lives in Harlem, from which I take the A train to and from Gotham each day. My family has found “our New York” in Harlem, where the musical heritage continues to enrich our lives. It’s everywhere, from the National Jazz Museum to Morningside Park to Minton’s, where we will be this Friday to hear a performance by former Gotham sommelier, Kristen Lee Sergeant.
In the meantime, I hope to see you at Gotham tonight for Week 5 of our 6-week Duke Ellington Series…or next week when we finish off this exploration with Duke’s achievements in the 50s and 60s!
—Bret Csencsitz
WORTH A LISTEN: “Take the ‘A’ Train”
Read the Introduction to our Series by Darrell Smith.
Enjoy Bret’s Duke Playlist here.
