Billy Strayhorn 's reputation is merely that of Duke Ellington's amanuensis - his writing and arranging partner - but this does not do justice to one of the great jazz composers and arrangers. He was an extraordinarily complex man who created songs such as Take the A Train, Chelsea Bridge and Lush Life. He was the other half of Ellington's musical self but in contrast to Ellington - who was immodest, ostentatiously heterosexual and egocentric -
Strayhorn was shy, gay and self-effacing. In the first of three programmes, his biographer David Hajdu explores his life and music, from his early career in Pittsburgh to the climax of his first period with Ellington.
Producer Dave Batchelor