Piece Description

Billy Strayhorn was one of the great American songwriters of the 20th century -- even if few people knew it during his lifetime. It was Strayhorn, not his mentor Duke Ellington, who wrote the standards "Take the 'A' Train," "Satin Doll," and "Lush Life." But Strayhorn was black and openly gay, and he lived his life mostly in Ellington's shadow. More than 30 years after Strayhorn's death, jazz vocalist Allan Harris paid a call on members of Strayhorn's family. Harris convinced the Strayhorn family to give him access to previously unrecorded music as he made his all-Strayhorn CD, Love Came. In this feature, Harris describes his approach to singing Strayhorn's neglected music, as well as his radical reinterpretation of Strayhorn's signature tune, "Lush Life." As in all the pieces in David Schulman's CPB-supported Musicians in their own words series, the story is told through a mix of the performer's voice and music. There is no reporter's voice heard, allowing the feature to be seamlessly incorporated into station news, talk, or music programming. Scripts for intro and outro are attached, and may be edited at will. This piece first aired on WAMU, Washington.