Search - Dutch Jazz Orchestra, Billy Strayhorn :: Portrait of Silk Thread

Though Billy Strayhorn is best known as Duke Ellington's tireless collaborator, his contributions to the jazz cannon make him one of the most important composer/arrangers of the century--with or without the Duke. Take the A-Train, the song most associated with Ellington is, in fact, a Strayhorn composition. During his 28- year relationship with Ellington, Strayhorn wrote an average of one piece per week--an astounding output especially considering the painstaking detail and highly crafted nuance for which Strayhorn is known. On Portrait of a Silk Thread, the Dutch Jazz Orchestra led by Jerry Van Rooijen unearths pieces, which, unlike "Lush Life," or "Passion Flower," never made it into the Ellington band's songbook. While the treatment here is certainly reverent, it also underscores the highly stylized grace and almost withering beauty of these richly lyrical compositions. Strayhorn could compose with a masterful, sense of wonder and ornamentation. Just as importantly, he could make those gilded creations dance. --S. Duda