Duke Ellington and his famous orchestra - Lotus Blossom. Billy Strayhorn. Early life[edit] Return to Pittsburgh and meeting Ellington[edit] Though classical music was Strayhorn’s first love, his ambition to become a classical composer was shot down by the harsh reality of a black man trying to make it in the then almost completely white classical world. Strayhorn was then introduced to the music of pianists like Art Tatum and Teddy Wilson at age 19. These musicians guided him into the realm of jazz where he remained for the rest of his life. His first jazz exposure was in a combo called the Mad Hatters that played around Pittsburgh.
He met Duke Ellington in December 1938, after an Ellington performance in Pittsburgh (he had first seen Ellington play in Pittsburgh in 1933). Billy Strayhorn, New York, N.Y., between 1946 and 1948 Working with Ellington[edit] Strayhorn's relationship with Ellington was always difficult to pin down: Strayhorn was a gifted composer and arranger who seemed to flourish in Duke's shadow. Personal life[edit] Illness and death[edit] Arts >> Strayhorn, William Thomas. Despite his indisputable musical genius, prolific composer, arranger, and performing musician Billy Strayhorn spent much of his life in near-anonymity. Best known for his collaborations with Duke Ellington over a span of nearly thirty years, Strayhorn was the writer and arranger behind the famous Ellington Orchestra theme "Take the A Train," as well as the creator of such classics as "Lush Life," "Satin Doll," and "Johnny Come Lately.
" Yet the small, bespectacled, openly gay Strayhorn--by all accounts a quiet and extraordinarily refined man--lived behind the scenes of jazz glory for most of his life. Only one solo album of his own was released during his lifetime, and until the mid-1990s, not a single biography had been written about him. The first of five surviving children born to a soft-spoken, ladylike mother and a brutish father in Dayton, Ohio, Strayhorn was raised in the Homewood area of Pittsburgh. His drinking, friends noticed, escalated considerably as the years passed. Independent Lens . BILLY STRAYHORN: LUSH LIFE . The Film. From the 1940s to the 1960s, Billy Strayhorn was one of the forces behind the sound of the renowned Duke Ellington Orchestra.
BILLY STRAYHORN: LUSH LIFE tells the story of this pioneering African American composer, arranger and pianist. Strayhorn helped produce a body of work that has no rival in originality and range—from unforgettable tunes and jazz melodies to orchestral suites and soundtracks. He was the sole composer of many classic compositions, including the Ellington theme song, “Take The ‘A’ Train,” and the widely recorded “Lush Life.”
Yet at the time of his death in 1967 at age 51 from esophageal cancer, most people were unfamiliar with his musical accomplishments and genius. Today, historians and scholars agree that Billy Strayhorn remains one of the most under-recognized American composers in history. Born in 1915, Strayhorn chose to live openly as a gay black man. Strayhorn was openly gay during a highly homophobic era. Learn more about the life of Billy Strayhorn >> A cordial welcome to jazzsight. Nat King Cole - Nature Boy. Ten straight songs about gay men. By snicks | Our sisters over at AfterEllen.com posted an intriguing entry about songs written or performed by straight artists about lesbians.
Let’s take a look at the flip side: Ten songs written or performed by straight artists about gay (or, in one case, transgender) men. (In no particular order except #1.) 10. Rod Stewart: “The Killing of Georgie Part 1 & 2″ In 1976, Rod Stewart wrote and recorded this song about a gay boy named Georgie, who moved to New York City and met an untimely end. Sample Lyric In these days of changing ways, so called liberated days, a story comes to mind of a friend of mine. 9. 1970′s “Lola” was one of the biggest hits for The Kinks, and was about a naive young man who falls in love with a girl with “something extra”.
I met her in a club down in old Soho where you drink champagne and it tastes just like Cherry Cola C-O-L-A Cola. Kinks – Lola (Top Of The Pops 1970)Uploaded by newcanadian Eight more straight songs about gay men after the break! 8. 7. 6. 5. 4. 3. Nature Boy by Nat King Cole Songfacts. Songfacts®: You can leave comments about the song at the bottom of the page. This song was written by Eden Ahbez, one of the strangest songwriters of the pre-Hippie era. He was a beatnik poet, but more accurately a proto-Hippie, choosing to wear long hair, a full beard and long, white, flowing garments that promoted a Christ-like appearance. He lived in Griffith Park in Los Angeles and ate fruit, vegetables and nuts. Ahbez was born in Brooklyn in 1908, and he claimed to have been raised in an orphanage and to have crossed the US on foot 8 times before age 35.
He moved to Los Angeles in the '40s, lived on 3 dollars a week, and lectured on Hollywood street corners about Oriental mysticism. Ahbez implored Nat King Cole's manager to look at his manuscript of "Nature Boy. " Nat King Cole recorded one other Ahbez song - "Land of Love. " According to his friend Joe Romersa, Ahbez wanted to correct the last lyric. Comments (9): Maria Muldaur The "Midnight At The Oasis" singer is an Old Time gal. Nature Boy. Jane Russell - Ain’t there anyone here for love.
» Jane Russell Is Love. Jane Russell - Ain't There Anyone Here For Love. YCCallmeJulie » A. Girardot, J. Russell : mon enfance se fait la malle… 1 mars 2011 Quand j'étais petite spectatrice, il y avait des incontournables à la maison. Par exemple, on ne ratait pas un James Bond, ni une rediffusion des Chevaliers de La Table Ronde (Robert Taylor et Ava Gardner ou comment se sentir bi devant ces deux beautés) ou encore Les Aventures Robin des Bois (mes premiers émois face à la douceur énergique de Olivia de Havilland). Ces avec ces films "familiaux" que je me suis construite. Depuis deux jours, j'ai une part de mon enfance qui se fait la malle. Hier, Annie Girardot et aujourd'hui, Jane Russell, respectivement 79 et 89 ans se sont éteintes. Une presque même génération et pourtant deux icônes bien différentes.
Voici deux extraits pour saluer l'actrice de tous les rôles et celle d'un seul. On a volé la cuisse de Jupiter (1979) Gentlemen prefers Blondes (1953) - "Ain't There Anyone Here For Love" P.S. : La soirée hommage consacrée à Annie Girardot et difffusée hier au soir sur France 2 a fait la meilleure audience (à lire ICI ). Jack Cole. Jack Cole born 27 April 1911 (d. 1974) Jack Cole was an American dancer, choreographer, and theatre director known as the father of theatrical jazz dance.
Born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, Cole virtually invented the idiom of American Show Dancing known as 'Theatre Dance'. He developed an entirely personal mode of jazz-ethnic-ballet that prevails as the dominant look of and technique for dancing in today's musicals, films, nightclub revues, television commercials and music videos. Early on he decided to pursue dance with the Denishawn Dance Company led by Ruth St Denis and Ted Shawn. Cole also performed with Doris Humphrey and Charles Weidman, but eventually left the modern dance world for commercial dance career in nightclubs, performing with Alice Dudley, Anna Austin and Florence Lessing.
Cole's unmistakable style endures in the work of Gwen Verdon, Bob Fosse, Jerome Robbins, Gower Champion, Peter Gennaro, Michael Bennett, Tommy Tune, and countless other dancers and choreographers.