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Jeff Lee
Ethnomusicology 50A
Kenneth Lim 1P
20 November, 2015
A Man to Be Remembered
Despite the fact that there have been thousands of people who have made a name for
themselves within the jazz world, each person has influenced jazz in his or her own unique way.
Some people would influence jazz by performing with eccentric styles while others would stay
behind the scenes and influence jazz by writing and arranging extraordinary pieces of music. In
Billy Strayhorns case, Strayhorn would not influence jazz by performing in front of thousands
of people, he would instead influence jazz by composing and arranging music for Duke
Ellington, a man whose music would be heard across the country for decades.
Billy Strayhorn was born in the small town of Dayton, Ohio in 1915 (Billy Strayhorn).
Five years later he would move to a neighborhood in Pittsburgh named Homewood and
Homewood would be the neighborhood in which Strayhorn lived out his childhood (Billy
Strayhorn). During his childhood, Strayhorn worked many different jobs in order to buy an old,
used piano and to pay for piano lessons Charlotte Catlin at Volkweins Music Store (Billy
Strayhorn). He would go on to attend Westinghouse High School to study piano under Jane
Patton Alexander and he would eventually go on to play in his high schools orchestra (Billy
Strayhorn). Despite the fact that Strayhorn yearned to attend a university to further his musical
studies in order to become a classical concert pianist, he was faced with discrimination in the
classical music world as well as a lack of funds (Billy Strayhorn). This would result in
Strayhorn working at a drug store as a soda jerk (Billy Strayhorn). As a soda jerk, Strayhorn
was asked to play piano whenever he went to deliver ice cream or pop and parents tipped him a
dime many times (Hadju, 47). Strayhorn would later write music and other forms of
entertainment for a Cole Porter-style musical which was performed at Westinghouse high

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school (Billy Strayhorn). This musical would be named Fantastic Rhythm and it would
become a hit throughout black theaters in western Pennsylvania (Billy Strayhorn). After he had
saved up enough money, Strayhorn would enroll in the Pittsburgh Music Institute and study
under Charles Boyd and Max Adkins (Billy Strayhorn). As Strayhorns talent began to
increase, his family felt as if Billy was accepted in the white world that most black people
were not because of his talent (Hadju, 47). Strayhorn would go on to make a trio of his own
called the Mad Hatters and it was in this trio that he would test out the arrangements that he
had written (Billy Strayhorn). After many gigs, Strayhorn became well known in the
Pittsburgh area and he would begin to arrange music for many of the bands in the area (Billy
Strayhorn). It was around this time that Strayhorn would be introduced to Duke Ellington and
without the help of George Greenlee and his uncle William Greenlee, Strayhorn would never
have been discovered by Duke Ellington (Hadju, 48). Strayhorn would move in with the
Ellington family later on and the Ellingtons considered Strayhorn to be part of their family from
the time that he moved in with them which is probably what led the incredible cohesion between
Strayhorn and Ellington (Hadju, 58). Since Ellington did not have a specific position for
Strayhorn to fill, he told Strayhorn that he could do whatever he felt like doing which gave
Strayhorn a lot of creative freedom when it came to arranging and composing (Hadju, 57). In the
beginning, Strayhorn wanted to emulate the sounds of Stravinsky but as he became more
acquainted with Ellingtons band, his arrangement style began to change (Hadju, 54). As time
went on, Strayhorn became closer and closer to Ellington until eventually Ellington considered
him as his right and left arms as well the eyes in the back of his head (Ellington, 156). Ellington
projected an air of Continental polish that meshed exquisitely with Strayhorns own infatuation
with townhouse culture: jazz and cocktails in the very gay places on the wheel of life which is

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another reason why the two made such a great team (Hadju, 54). As Strayhorns arrangements
were played on a more regular basis by Ellingtons band, audiences at home and abroad
marveled at the grandeur of his talent and the mantle of tonal supremacy that he wore only with
grace (Ellington, 156). Strayhorn would continue to produce great arrangements until his
untimely death due to esophageal cancer in 1967 (Billy Strayhorn). Ellington began Sniffling
and whimpering, crying, [and] banging his head when he found out that Strayhorn had passed
away (Ellington, 159). Although Billy Strayhorns name is not as well-known as Duke
Ellingtons name, he should be given just as much recognition as Duke Ellington since he was
the one that wrote many of the songs that Ellingtons band played on stage.
Billy Strayhorn would impact the jazz scene by doing behind the scenes work such as
composing and arranging music. One way he greatly impacted the jazz world would be by
arranging many of the songs that were performed by Duke Ellingtons band. By writing songs for
Ellingtons band, Strayhorn was able to spread his style of jazz music to wherever Ellington and
his band performed. Often times, Strayhorn would collaborate with Ellington by finishing his
incomplete music pieces (Billy Strayhorn). This would result in a piece of music in which one
could not distinguish which parts of the piece were written by either Strayhorn or Ellington.
Strayhorn would also coin the term Ellington effect which refers to the fact that the music
sounded like something Ellington would play (Schuller, 327). While arranging music for
Ellington when the band was in Boston, Strayhorn expanded his abilities as an arranger by
writing a vocal arrangement for the tune The Jumpin Jive for Ivie Anderson to sing which
turned out to be a success. This arrangement would cause Ellington to put Strayhorn in charge of
all the vocal arrangements (Hadju, 62). So not only did Strayhorn coin a new term, but he also
expanded the swing vocabulary of chord voicing through his compositions (Billy Strayhorn).
Another important piece of jazz that was written by Strayhorn is the song Take the A Train

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(Hadju, 55). The song Take the A Train was written in order to impress Ellington and was
written based off of the directions that Ellington had given Strayhorn in order to get to his house
in Harlem. It was said to have been born without any effort (Hadju, 55). This piece would later
become an iconic piece that was played many times over by Ellingtons band. In addition to
influencing jazz by writing many unforgettable compositions, Strayhorn would also impact jazz
by influencing other jazz musicians at the time. He influenced other musicians of the time such
as Lena Horne, Nat King Cole, and Johnny Dankworth (Billy Strayhorn). But it was Lena
Horne that Strayhorn would have the greatest influence upon. Strayhorn became Hornes mentor
and taught her many things about music (Billy Strayhorn). He would take her to auditions and
play the piano accompaniment for her which would eventually land Horne a gig in Hollywood
(Billy Strayhorn). Billy Strayhorn was an incredible composer and arranger that greatly
impacted the jazz world in a variety of ways and that should be given more recognition than he is
given today.
Billy Strayhorn lived a full and interesting life with many twists and adventures within it.
During his life he touched the lives of thousands through the music he composed and arranged
and his music had a huge impact on jazz. Without Billy Strayhorn, Duke Ellingtons music might
have been completely different than the Ellington music that we know of today.
Works Cited
"Billy Strayhorn." Composer of Take the A Train and Lush Life - Duke Ellington's Collaborator Lena Horne's Mentor. Pittsburgh Music History, n.d. Web. 23 Nov. 2015.
<https://sites.google.com/site/pittsburghmusichistory/pittsburgh-music-story/composerarrangers/billy-strayhorn>.
Ellington, Edward Kennedy. Music Is My Mistress. Garden City, New York: Doubleday &, n.d.
Print.

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Hajdu, David. Lush Life: A Biography of Billy Strayhorn. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux,
1996. Print.
Schuller, Gunther. Early Jazz: Its Roots and Musical Development. New York: Oxford UP, 1986.
Print.