

Pages: 288
ISBN: 9780819500632
Pub Date: 02 Feb 2024
Imprint: Wesleyan University Press
Series: Music/Culture
Pages: 288
ISBN: 9780819500649
Pub Date: 01 Feb 2024
Imprint: Wesleyan University Press
Series: Music/Culture
Illustrations: 22 b&w photos, 15 figures
Description:
Queer Arrangements is a new study of Billy Strayhorn that examines his music and career at the intersection of jazz and Black queer history.The legacy of Black queer composer, arranger and pianist Billy Strayhorn (1915–1967) hovers at the edge of canonical jazz narratives. Queer Arrangements explores the ways in which Strayhorn's identity as an openly gay Black jazz musician shaped his career, including the creative roles he could assume and the dynamics between himself and his collaborators, most famously Duke Ellington, but also iconic singers such as Lena Horne and Ella Fitzgerald.