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Billy Strayhorn | Essential albums and listening guide
Explore Billy Strayhorn through The Peaceful Side of Jazz. Discover what to listen for and follow related styles to your next record.
Billy Strayhorn
Meet the artist
A composer, arranger and pianist closely associated with Duke Ellington. Their long collaboration helped shape the orchestra's repertoire, while Strayhorn's own writing retained a distinctive lyrical and harmonic voice. Sophisticated harmony supports melodies that linger quietly in memory.
His role in Ellington's music includes compositions and arrangements attentive to individual players. Shading beneath a glamorous surface and unexpected wistfulness give the writing depth. Intimate piano settings bring these relationships closer. Following collaboration between composers, rather than only the featured performers, reveals another way that an orchestra's distinctive sound takes shape.
Where to start listening
Begin with the intimate piano setting, then turn to Ellington's orchestra and listen for harmonic colors that survive the change of scale.
1961The Peaceful Side of Jazz
Billy Strayhorn
A Paris recording that places Billy Strayhorn's piano and compositions in intimate settings, including voices and strings. It offers a close view of his harmonic imagination.
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1957Such Sweet Thunder
Duke Ellington / Billy Strayhorn
A suite by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn inspired by Shakespeare, displaying their mastery of orchestral arranging.
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Years follow the Atlas catalogue. Recording dates, original release dates and digital reissue dates may differ.