The Legacy of Billy Strayhorn, part II: Lotus Blossom, Raincheck and some less well known tunes from the Strayhorn songbook.

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Billy Strayhorn spent his career as Duke Ellington's "composing and arranging partner" but it wasn't until relatively recently that his remarkable contribution to jazz was fully appreciated. When Strayhorn's tunes began making their appearance in the early '40s, other musicians took notice. Gerry Mulligan said, "I was part of a small community of very young musicians and arrangers. When Strayhorn came on the scene, he just blew us away because he was doing very complicated, sophisticated things, and they didn't sound complicated to the ear at all. To bring all that complexity to bear and have it sound so beautiful was something incredible to everybody who knew anything."

In this hour, you'll hear some of Strayhorn's gorgeous melodies like "Lotus Blossom," "Raincheck" and "Multicolored Blue" along with less well known parts of the Strayhorn songbook..

Featured artists include Joe Henderson, John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Kenny Burrell, Allen Toussaint and Fred Hersch.

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