LOS ANGELES, CA (June 14, 2000) -- The catalog of revered composer-arranger-lyricist-pianist Billy Strayhorn -- who wrote some of The Duke Ellington Orchestra's best-known pieces, including "Take The 'A' Train," "Chelsea Bridge" and "Something To Live For" -- has been acquired by DreamWorks Music Publishing.

Strayhorn's life and work will be celebrated June 21 at 7:00 p.m. (PST) at the exclusive restaurant Reign in Beverly Hills, Calif., the hosts hoping each guest "relaxes on the axis of the wheel of life/ To get the feel of life/ From jazz and cocktails" (from Strayhorn's "Lush Life"). Attendees will also receive a CD sampler of Strayhorn's indelible music.

"We are deeply honored to have acquired the Strayhorn catalog," remarks head of DreamWorks Music Publishing Chuck Kaye. "There is no overestimating his importance as an artist or as a creative catalyst in the development of American music in the 20th century. He never received the kind of public recognition Ellington did, but without Strayhorn -- his technical mastery, his stylistic innovations, the accessibility and sheer volume of his work -- Ellington's orchestra may not have achieved the prominence it continues to enjoy today."

Strayhorn was a prodigy who pursued jazz when it became clear that a black man in 1930s America would be barred from a career in the alabaster world of classical music. His facility for the complexities of classical music, however, would serve him throughout his life. Strayhorn's proficiency in the idiom supported his experiments with the chromatic scale, his forays into African polyrhythms and his exploration of traditional popular forms, all of which combined to produce a genuinely new, uniquely American music.

"Strayhorn redefined the musical landscape," explains Herb Jordan, curator of the Strayhorn catalog. "He brought an extremely high level of composition to popular music -- his work is both studied in music schools and danced to all over the world. His influence is enormous." In fact, Strayhorn compositions have been recorded by artists as diverse as Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, Linda Ronstadt, Donna Summer, Rikki Lee Jones and Queen Latifah, among many, many others. "Like George and Ira Gershwin and Lennon and McCartney," Jordan says, "Strayhorn and Ellington helped us hear things in music that have stayed with us for decades and will surely endure long after we're gone."

The magnitude of Strayhorn's artistic achievements mirrors his contributions as an agent of social change. Illuminates Jordan: "In 1938 [the year Strayhorn met Ellington], there was an unwillingness to recognize the humanity of black people. Ellington and Strayhorn represented a challenge to that. They were intelligent, articulate, refined. They looked good; they spoke well. They were the essence of style, and they were writing music that was sending white musicians back to the drawing board. A new generation was listening to the Ellington band on the radio and dancing to its music in clubs. There was no holding it back -- this was a cultural revolution."

Jordan likens the role of Strayhorn and Ellington in the drama of American race relations to that of Paul Robeson, Joe Louis and countless unsung civil rights attorneys: "They called into question how we as a nation were going to deal with race. They set the stage for reshaping how America thinks about black people and black culture, foreshadowing what Muhammad Ali and Motown did in the '60s. But they broke down barriers in a very subtle way -- they didn't preach; they just let their music and personal styles speak for them. Strayhorn and Ellington were a powerful object lesson."

Billy Strayhorn was born in 1915 in Dayton, Ohio. Glued to the Victrola as a child, he worked odd jobs to purchase a used upright piano while still in grade school. Formal study followed, and he began writing music early on, penning the sophisticated "Lush Life" at 19. When he was 23, a mutual friend introduced him to Ellington, who immediately recognized his extravagant gifts. Within a few months, The Duke Ellington Orchestra was recording and performing Strayhorn compositions and Strayhorn had moved from his adopted home of Pittsburgh to New York City, where he also undertook arrangements for the group and began collaborating on compositions with Ellington.

In addition to the swinging signature "Take The 'A' Train" (inspired by Ellington's directions to Harlem), "Chelsea Bridge" and "Something To Live For," Strayhorn's work was immortalized in Ellington Orchestra renderings of "Lush Life," "Satin Doll," "Day Dream," "Passion Flower," "Lotus Blossom," "Rain Check," "Johnny Come Lately," "A Flower Is A Lovesome Thing," "After All," "Mid-Riff" and numerous others.

Strayhorn died in 1967, at 51, of esophageal cancer, continuing to work on his final composition, "Blood Count," from his hospital bed. Shortly thereafter, Ellington recorded a tribute to his partner of nearly 30 years, entitled And His Mother Called Him Bill. It is still considered the best introduction to Strayhorn's oeuvre.

Concludes Kaye of the publishing company's coup in landing the Strayhorn collection: "Billy Strayhorn's music is already part of the fabric of American culture, but we believe we can help introduce a whole new generation to his work through its placement in film, television and other global media. We fully understand the significance of the Strayhorn catalog and view its administration as a solemn trust. It's a privilege for all of us."


SOURCE: DreamWorks Music Publishing