Lush Life: The Music of Billy Strayhorn cover

Lush Life: The Music of Billy Strayhorn

Released

In his final decade, Henderson recorded a number of tribute albums, but he always made the material his own. This was the first, and he approached the tunes from multiple angles: while “Isfahan” was a duo with bassist Christian McBride, “Lotus Blossom” showcased pianist Stephen Scott, and “Take The A Train” was stripped to sax and Gregory Hutchinson’s drums, three other tracks featured the full band plus trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, and the title piece is an album-closing solo excursion. It’s all beautiful, and because it’s all from Billy Strayhorn’s pen, it flows together seamlessly.

Phil Freeman

Recommended by

Suggestions
Vista cover

Vista

Julian Siegel
Montreux ‘77 cover

Montreux ‘77

Roy Eldridge
Live at the Cookery cover

Live at the Cookery

Mary Lou Williams
The Magic Triangle cover

The Magic Triangle

Famoudou Don Moye, Joseph Jarman, Don Pullen
Clifford Brown & Max Roach cover

Clifford Brown & Max Roach

Max Roach, Clifford Brown
Time Out Trio cover

Time Out Trio

Géraldine Laurent
Napoli Trip cover

Napoli Trip

Stefano Bollani
Gamak cover

Gamak

Rudresh Mahanthappa
Let’s Swing! cover

Let’s Swing!

Budd Johnson Quintet
Come on In cover

Come on In

Vital Information, Steve Smith
Hermeto + cover

Hermeto +

Martin France, Peter Herbert, Huw Warren
United cover

United

Woody Shaw