Billy Strayhorn - Lush Life (CD)

Billy Strayhorn spent decades as Duke Ellington's closest musical collaborator, yet his own voice as a composer, arranger, and pianist remained one of jazz's best-kept secrets until long after his death in 1967. The documentary this soundtrack accompanies finally brought his story the wider attention it deserved, shining light on a figure whose compositions, from "Take the A Train" to "Chelsea Bridge," shaped the sound of an entire era without ever quite getting his name on the marquee.