Strayhorn, Billy

byname of William Thomas Strayhorn

(born Nov. 29, 1915, Dayton, Ohio, U.S.—died May 31, 1967, New York, N.Y.) American pianist and composer who spent his entire career in collaboration with and as amanuensis to the composer and bandleader Duke Ellington.

Educated privately, Strayhorn applied to Ellington in 1938 for work as a lyricist, using his own composition “Lush Life” as a credential. In 1939 Ellington made his first recording of a Strayhorn composition; it was the first of many, including the highly popular “Take the ‘A' Train” and “Chelsea Bridge,” an excellent example of the composer's refined, impressionistic style. Strayhorn was also an accomplished pianist who rarely did justice to his own talent. His work as a composer became so intertwined with Ellington's that it was said that eventually neither man was able to distinguish his own contributions to their joint work. Strayhorn worked on most of Ellington's major concert works and unquestionably exerted a great influence upon him.