Lush Life: The Music of Billy Strayhorn
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Lush Life: The Music of Billy Strayhorn (also known as Lush Life) is an award-winning 1992 tribute album by jazz composer and tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson. Composed entirely of songs written by jazz legend Billy Strayhorn, the album was a critical and commercial success, leading to the first of three Grammys Henderson would receive while under contract with Verve Records and helping to establish Henderson an international star.[2][3] The album had sold nearly 90,000 copies at the time of Henderson's death in 2001 and has been multiply re-released by Verve, Polygram Records and, in Hybrid SACD, by Universal.[2][4]
Background
Henderson, who had not recorded a studio album in 11 years, had been featured throughout the late 80s and early 90s on recordings by a number of modern jazz musicians, including Wynton Marsalis, when producer Richard Seidel proposed to him the idea of the tribute album to be released under his own name.[5] The album separated the songwriter from his usual material, which according to The New York Times suited Henderson, highlighting his evolution into "one of jazz's most detailed improvisers".[5] Like The New York Times—which credits the album's producers for understanding jazz culture of 1992, "where challenging acoustic music is both an artistic necessity and a play for a market"[5]—Ink Blot Magazine describes the album's success as largely due to its instrumental combinations; rather than performing with a band, Henderson is featured in solo performance, in duet, in trio, in quartet and quintet.[6] Entertainment Weekly agrees that the idea of highlighting the material by dramatically changing personnel "works without getting gimmicky".[7]
Critical reception
The album was praised on its release by The New York Times as being "as close to artistic genius as jazz gets nowadays".[5] In another article in 2002, the same reviewer described the album as "perfectly produced", "thoughtful, carefully experimental and cross generational".[8] Entertainment Weekly declared Henderson's "originality and sheer strangeness" a match for Strayhorn's compositions, stating that Henderson's "fierce muscularity" counterbalanced "Strayhorn's angst—as exquisitely, in a new way, as Duke Ellington and his orchestra used to".[7] The album comes "highly recommended" by Allmusic, which notes that "it does deserve all of the hype".[4]
Charts and awards
The album ranked #1 in Billboard's "Top Jazz Albums" chart,[4] holding its position at top of the charts for two months.[9] With the track "Lush Life", Henderson received the 1992 Grammy Award for "Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Soloist".[4]
Track listing
Except as otherwise noted, all songs by Billy Strayhorn.
- "Isfahan" (Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn) – 5:59
- "Johnny Come Lately" – 6:30
- "Blood Count" – 7:19
- "Rain Check" – 5:54
- "Lotus Blossom" – 4:31
- "A Flower is a Lovesome Thing" – 6:58
- "Take the "A" Train" – 7:11
- "Drawing Room Blues" – 7:33
- "U.M.M.G. (Upper Manhattan Medical Group)" – 5:02
- "Lush Life" – 5:03
Personnel
Performance
Production
References
- ^ Yanow, Scott (2011 [last update]). "Lush Life: The Music of Billy Strayhorn - Joe Henderson | AllMusic". allmusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r140580. Retrieved 17 July 2011.
- ^ a b Ratliff, Ben. (July 3, 2001) Joe Henderson, saxophonist and composer, dies at 64 The New York Times. Retrieved 24/03/08.
- ^ Hamlin, Jesse. (February 8, 2008) Black history month: Joe Henderson. San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 24/03/08.
- ^ a b c d Lush Life: The Music of Billy Strayhorn at Allmusic
- ^ a b c d Watrous, Peter. (March 1, 1992) High notes and low in preserving the ephemeral The New York Times. Retrieved 24/03/08.
- ^ Greilsamer, Marc. Joe Henderson, Lush Life - The Music of Billy Strayhorn inblotmagazine.com Retrieved 24/03/08.
- ^ a b Hajdu, David. (March 6, 1992) Lush Life: The Music of Billy Strayhorn (1992) Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 24/03/08.
- ^ Watrous, Peter. (June 14, 1992) The jazz festival revisits itself. The New York Times. Retrieved 24/03/08.
- ^ Ratliff, Ben. (July 14, 1996) The invisible man at Ellington's elbow The New York Times Retrieved 24/03/08.