{"product_id":"14245-strayhorn-billy-ellington-duke-lush-life-original-cover-art-from-duke-ellington-collection","title":"[Strayhorn, Billy. (1915-1967) \u0026 Ellington, Duke. (1899-1974)] \"Lush Life\" - ORIGINAL COVER ART FROM DUKE ELLINGTON COLLECTION","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003ci\u003eI used to visit all the very gay places\u003cbr\u003eThose come what may places\u003cbr\u003eWhere one relaxes on the axis of the wheel of life\u003cbr\u003eTo get the feel of life\u003cbr\u003eFrom jazz and cocktails.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003eOriginal concept cover artwork for an apparently unrealized sheet music edition of Billy Strayhorn's iconic song \"Lush Life.\" By an unidentified artist, the striking image shows a dark cocktail being poured out of a glass, while a tearful woman's face looks on, echoing the song's melancholy subject matter. At the lower right corner, the label of Duke Ellington's publishing company, Tempo Music Inc., has been affixed. Mixed media on paper. Light toning and some slight creases; overall in fine condition. 9 x 12 inches, framed to 15 x 18.5 inches. Provenance: Duke Ellington Estate.\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cspan\u003eThe young composer and pianist Billy Strayhorn \u003c\/span\u003ewas only 16 when he wrote the majority of \"Lush Life\", which shows a surprising maturity in its complex chord changes and dreamlike character.  He offered his composition  to Duke Ellington in 1938; less than a year later, Strayhorn had become an arranger and pianist with the Ellington band, a collaboration that was to last until Strayhorn's death in 1967. Ellington once described Strayhorn as \"my right arm, my left arm, all the eyes in the back of my head, my brainwaves in his head, and his in mine\" and their collaboration produced some of the most remarkable and enduring American music of the twentieth century.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\"Lush Life\" did not have its first public performance until November 13, 1948, with the Duke Ellington Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, and the work was published shortly thereafter by Tempo Music, the music publishing firm founded by Ellington in the early 1940s. The cover of that eventual publication consisted of a very simple design featuring only the song title and five star shapes, the present original concept having evidently been considered too graphic and controversial an image.  \u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Schubertiade Music and Arts","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46093544620191,"sku":"14245","price":30000.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0512\/4826\/7423\/files\/Strayhorn_Ellington_Lush_Life_Art_14245_001.jpg?v=1722188738","url":"https:\/\/www.schubertiademusic.com\/products\/14245-strayhorn-billy-ellington-duke-lush-life-original-cover-art-from-duke-ellington-collection","provider":"Schubertiade Music and Arts","version":"1.0","type":"link"}