Hajdu On Strayhorn

Sitting at the center of the week of events honoring the legacy of Billy Strayhorn is the April 15 talk session between Detroit Free Press music writer Mark Stryker and Strayhorn biographer David Hajdu. A decade of research and over 500 interviews went into his 1996 biography Lush Life, which provided the first wide view on Strayhorn's life, music and connection to the vast legacy of Duke Ellington. Strayhorn's relationship with Ellington was complicated and it is still being sorted out.

In addition to coming in to discuss Strayhorn in Dayton, Hajdu has provided an essay for the Cityfolk website. Here's a portion of it, focusing on the working relationship between the two men. Click here to read complete essay. The talk session will take place at the Loft Theatre, 126 N. Main Street in downtown Dayton at 7:30 PM. Admission is free.

That Ellington may not have needed the young man’s assistance would quickly become moot; they grew reliant upon each other. “His approval was like going out with your armor on instead of going out naked,” Ellington said. “We had a relationship that nobody else in the world would understand.” Though Strayhorn would ultimately be tempted by other offers, including an opportunity to join Frank Sinatra’s organization, he never ventured far from Ellington’s reach. The composers worked together from 1939 to 1967 -- often closely, occasionally one picking up where the other left off, perhaps one suggesting a single chord change, at times one simply smiling or chuckling in approval. Wherever in the world his orchestra was booked to perform, Ellington called Strayhorn, and they worked by phone virtually every day. Their collaborative output includes dozens of jazz masterworks, from songs such as “Day Dream” and “The Star-Crossed Lovers” and long-form jazz-orchestra pieces such as “The Deep South Suite” and “Suite Thursday” to the Broadway musical Beggar’s Holiday, the ballet Road of the Phoebe Snow and the scores to the films Anatomy of a Murder and Paris Blues.