David Hajdu is the music critic for The Nation and a professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Before joining The Nation in January 2015, he served for more than ten years as the music critic forThe New Republic. He is the author of Positively 4th Street (FSG, 2001), a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award; The Ten-Cent Plague (FSG, 2008), a finalist for the Eisner award; and Heroes and Villains, also a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. He lives in Manhattan with his family.
"Lush Life is a book as beautiful and intelligent as its subject. David Hajdu has brought all my dear memories of Billy Strayhorn to life." --Lena Horne "A portrait that is both full and convincing . . . It is a mark of excellence of this biography that it leaves one wanting nothing so much as to listen to the music." --Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post Book World "Hajdu invests his biography of Strayhorn with the kind of sensitivity and clarity which is the mark of his subject's best work." --The New Yorker
Much of the music associated with the Duke Ellington Orchestra was the work of composer and arranger Billy Strayhorn. He composed "Lush Life," "Take the A Train," and "Chelsea Bridge" and collaborated on Ellington's suites and music for stage and film (including "Such Sweet Thunder," "Jump for Joy," and "Anatomy of a Murder"). In return, Ellington provided Strayhorn a virtually all-expenses-paid life. With his male companions, Strayhorn lived in grand style, traveling in exclusive artistic and social circles. Hajdu's first book, this is a well-researched and well-written account of an underappreciated voice in American popular music. Lush Life should appeal to jazz enthusiasts in general and Duke Ellington fans in particular.‘Paul Baker, Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison
"Lush Life is a book as beautiful and intelligent as its subject. David Hajdu has brought all my dear memories of Billy Strayhorn to life." --Lena Horne "A portrait that is both full and convincing . . . It is a mark of excellence of this biography that it leaves one wanting nothing so much as to listen to the music." --Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post Book World "Hajdu invests his biography of Strayhorn with the kind of sensitivity and clarity which is the mark of his subject's best work." --The New Yorker
|
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
