Billy Strayhorn - Billy Strayhorn:Lush Life
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CD Details
Artist: Billy StrayhornEdition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2011-11-22
Music Label: Blue Note
Soundtracks:
- Fantastic Rhythm
- Rain Check
- Lush Life
- Satin Doll
- Something to Live For
- Johnny Come Lately
- Day Dream
- Tonk
- Chelsea Bridge
- My Little Brown Book
- Valse
- Blood Count (My Flame Burns Blue)
- The Flowers Die of Love
- Lotus Blossom
- So This Is Love
Music reviews of Billy Strayhorn:Lush Life
Music Review: Sophisticated Strayhorn
Rating: 4 Stars
The twenty-nine year partnership between Billy Strayhorn and Duke Ellington produced an unrivaled body of work. Running the gamut from popular songs and jazz compositions to orchestral suites and theatrical scores the fruits of their collaboration have a truly timeless quality and continue to inspire and intrigue musicians and audiences alike.
"Billy Strayhorn: Lush Life" is a 90-minute documentary which will debut nationally as part of PBS's Independent Lens series on Feb. 6. As one would expect, the complex relationship between these two pioneering African-American musicians and the resultant mystique will be a central theme in this first in-depth exploration of the brilliant composer/pianist/arrangers life.
The companion soundtrack of the same name has recently released by Blue Note and it is an elegant star-studded affair. Covering some of Strayhorn's most enduring compositions, the disc also spotlights equally satisfying lesser known titles too.
It is no coincidence since Strayhorn was a pianist that the instrument is prominent throughout courtesy of Bill Charlap, Hank Jones, and Peter Martin. Charlap takes solo strolls on both the disc opening "Fantastic Rhythm" and the classical piece "Valse." Jones goes it alone on the Ellington/Strayhorn gem "Satin Doll" while he and Charlap offer up an inspired four-handed rendition of "Tonk," which was originally performed in a similar fashion by Strayhorn and Ellington.
Dianne Reeves delivers vocals on six of the fifteen tunes. Strayhorn's signature piece "Lush Life" is a stark duet with guitarist Russell Malone. "Something to Live For," "Day Dream," "My Little Brown Book" and the more obscure "The Flowers Die of Love" and "So This Is Love" all feature her accompanied by a trio.
Playing tenor exclusively, saxophonist Joe Lovano's dream quartet of Jones on piano, George Mraz on bass, and Paul Motian on drums put a masterful touch on "Rain Check," "Johnny Come Lately," "Chelsea Bridge" and "Lotus Blossom." He also teams up with Charlap to back Elvis Costello as he delivers the lyrics he penned to "Blood Count," the last composition Strayhorn composed. Re-titled here as "My Flame Burns Blue," the trio delivers a haunting, evocative performance.
Many of the performances on the disc, particularly those by Reeves are also presented visually in the film.
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Description of Billy Strayhorn:Lush Life
Billy Strayhorn:Lush Life by Billy StrayhornThis product is manufactured on demand using CD-R recordable media. Amazon.com's standard return policy will apply.
From 1938, until his death in 1967, composer/arranger/pianist Billy Strayhorn was so entwined with Duke Ellington that musicologists are still trying to figure out where the former ends and the latter begins. On this companion soundtrack to the PBS documentary, pianists Bill Charlap and Hank Jones display their solo chops on the stridish "Fantastic Rhythm" and the soulful "Satin Doll" and reprise the great Ellington-Strayhorn four-hand piano workout, "Tonk." Vocalist Dianne Reeves and guitarist Russell Malone brilliantly navigate the harmonic challenges of the title track, while she and her rhythm section dance "Something to Live For" with an Ahmad Jamal bounce. Tenor saxophonist Ben Webster would approve of Joe Lovano's quartet rendition of "Chelsea Bridge," featuring Jones, bassist George Mraz, and drummer Paul Motian. Lovano and Charlap anchor Elvis Costello's languid lyrics on "My Flame Burns Blue (Blood Count)," adding another interpretive layer to the eternal artistry of this compelling and confounding musician. --Eugene Holley, Jr.
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