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nancf's review against another edition
3.0
After reading The Blues Walked In (Kathleen George, historical fiction with Lena Horne), I wanted to know more about Billy Strayhorne. I also signed up for a "class" about Pittsburgh Jazz and this was one of the related books. (I missed the first week of the four week class, and learned from an acquaintance that she was disappointed in the class. I will probably go for the second class and decide if I want to continue.)
Billy Strayhorn is portrayed as a supremely talented and happy person, despite some hardships in his life. Lush Life seems to be an honest portrait of the man, his music and his personal life. Strayhorn was more than a musician and composer, he was well-read, knowledgable about art, active in the civil rights movement, close to his mother, siblings and a fun person.
"For Strayhorn's group, a bonus of adding Mayer [Charles 'Buzzy' Mayer] was one guaranteed booking. Mayer's mother owned an amusement part about fourteen miles southwest of the Pittsburgh city limits, between the towns of Bridgeville and Canonsburg." (41) [I had never heard of this park, possibly called Rakuen Lakes? 1938]
"The guy went through a lot of shit in his life, from his father right on through school - the kids calling him a sissy, you know... He kept it all in and put on a big front that everything was fine, nothing bothered hin. Then he sat down and wrote all that music with all that emotion. All his feeling came out in the music." (88) [quote from Mickey Scrima]
"Finally, we found a place that would sell us some slivovitz, a ceremonial plum brandy. We went back, and we listened to the returns, and we drank. Roosevelt won, but we weren't very happy because we were sick as dogs from the stuff we were drinking." (100) [quote from Claire Gordon about 1944 presidential election night]
"...a benign union of acceptance." (202)
Billy Strayhorn is portrayed as a supremely talented and happy person, despite some hardships in his life. Lush Life seems to be an honest portrait of the man, his music and his personal life. Strayhorn was more than a musician and composer, he was well-read, knowledgable about art, active in the civil rights movement, close to his mother, siblings and a fun person.
"For Strayhorn's group, a bonus of adding Mayer [Charles 'Buzzy' Mayer] was one guaranteed booking. Mayer's mother owned an amusement part about fourteen miles southwest of the Pittsburgh city limits, between the towns of Bridgeville and Canonsburg." (41) [I had never heard of this park, possibly called Rakuen Lakes? 1938]
"The guy went through a lot of shit in his life, from his father right on through school - the kids calling him a sissy, you know... He kept it all in and put on a big front that everything was fine, nothing bothered hin. Then he sat down and wrote all that music with all that emotion. All his feeling came out in the music." (88) [quote from Mickey Scrima]
"Finally, we found a place that would sell us some slivovitz, a ceremonial plum brandy. We went back, and we listened to the returns, and we drank. Roosevelt won, but we weren't very happy because we were sick as dogs from the stuff we were drinking." (100) [quote from Claire Gordon about 1944 presidential election night]
"...a benign union of acceptance." (202)
mandiealleskan's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
4.75
It’s a beautiful book, and I would recommend any jazz musician/enthusiast to read it. It’s a telling of Billy Strayhorn’s life, and a beautiful one at that. It was a bit long-winded and hard to get through sometimes, but well, so was the man himself too, I suppose.
gjmaupin's review against another edition
5.0
Is it normal to get weepy when you get to the part of the bio where the subject (inevitably) dies? It isn't normal for me.
Someday I'll write the two-man play where Strayhorn and Ellington are holed up in a hotel to finish a piece. I've been talking about it for 20 years now.
Someday I'll write the two-man play where Strayhorn and Ellington are holed up in a hotel to finish a piece. I've been talking about it for 20 years now.
ruthmoog's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
I was pleased to get to know Billy Strayhorn through this book, which celebrates his music, talent, style, queerness, and blackness, and mourns his death. The end had me bawling.
What I didn't enjoy was that several sections felt like lists of song titles, many of them unfamiliar and many unrecorded; it was a bit of a drudge.
I was recommended the book because of Billy's relationship with the Copasetics, although Honi Coles in particular features as a father figure, the narrative is very much about Billy (and Duke Ellington) than the Copasetics, but it's still worth a read for tap dancers, for the origin and impact of "A Train" alone!
What I didn't enjoy was that several sections felt like lists of song titles, many of them unfamiliar and many unrecorded; it was a bit of a drudge.
I was recommended the book because of Billy's relationship with the Copasetics, although Honi Coles in particular features as a father figure, the narrative is very much about Billy (and Duke Ellington) than the Copasetics, but it's still worth a read for tap dancers, for the origin and impact of "A Train" alone!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Terminal illness, and Alcohol
Moderate: Child abuse, Racism, and Death of parent
Assassination, civil rights movement, cancer, drunk drivingbloom_18's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Billy Strayhorn is a hero of mine who still doesn’t get the praise that he deserves. He grew up in Pittsburg and lived in New York as an out and proud gay man in the 40’s. Stayhorn’s musical genius was ineffable and on par with any great classical composer be it Bach, Chopin or whoever. Stayhorn could have had the world, but prefered to work in Ellington’s shadow so that he could live freely. Consequently he only ever recorded one record under his name before dying of cancer at age 51.
ethanswanson's review against another edition
5.0
Beautifully detailed and respectful of Strayhorn's accomplishments and influence on the music.
mrmuleman's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
clambook's review against another edition
4.0
Strayhorn would have been 100 this year, and one could argue that he was one of the great 20th Century composers. Certainly if you view his music and that of Ellington's as that of one man, which much of it kind of was. Hadju does a good job on the events and people of Strayhorn's life, but is weak on the under-the-hood music making and light on the extent of his alcoholism. Read it with the relevant music on in the background.