Billy Strayhorn's Impact On The Development Of Jazz

Living a life faced with adversity it is truly remarkable the lasting impact Billy Strayhorn was capable of having on the development of jazz. He is acknowledged for being an exceptional pianist, composer, arranger and possessing one of the greatest compositional voices in the 20th century. He was truly an under appreciated revolutionary force decades ahead of his time, even while being the first closeted then out black gay man in a particularly homophobic environment of an all black male jazz band, that displayed a heterosexual image. Clearly his harsh circumstances did not consume his passion, because through Staryhorn’s miraculous musical creativity he left a legacy in the advancement of jazz. The peak of Staryhorns career began at his risky choice to attempt to try and attain some type of position with Duke Ellington, whom was very popular and well-off during this time. Given the opportunity to perform on the piano in from of Ellington, Strayhorn clearly impressed him, however Ellington was still unsure of what to do because he already had a pianist in his orchestra. Therefore, he asked him to come back the next day and “gave [him] an assignment” to write the lyrics for one of his ideas, so immediately Strayhorn went home and did what was asked and came back the next day prepared to have Ellingtons men play the arrangement. After the piece was played “Ellington smiled all over himself, and he told Billy …show more content…
For an immense amount of time he was often seen behind Ellington however as stated by David Simons in “Billy Strayhorn: An American Master “if Strayhorn was Ellington’s musical equal, he surpassed his boss as a lyricist” (5). Nonetheless Strayhorn prevailed through his harsh circumstances as a gay black man and let his passion for music drive him to become an influential figure in the development of