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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: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Child abuse, Death of parent, and Racism
Assassination, civil rights movement, cancer, drunk drivingmarkfeltskog's review against another edition
Sensitive and comprehensive. David Hajdu is a masterful expository prose stylist--this is perhaps the best biography of a major figure in jazz I've ever read.
bloom_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.
clambook's review
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.
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