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The creative and popular success of the Ellington orchestra came from a wondrous chemistry. Needless to say, one of the most powerful elements was the writing and arranging genius of its leader. The band's players included such greats as Cootie Williams and Cat Anderson on trumpet; Johnny Hodges and Paul Gonsalves on saxophone. After 1940 the lineup changed more frequently. One night in Chicago, Leonard saw tenor sax legend Ben Webster walk off the stand and burst into tears. His best friend in the band, the pioneering bassist Jimmy Blanton, had just died of tuberculosis at 23.
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William "Swee'Pea" Strayhorn had held only one job - as a soda jerk in Pittsburgh - before going to work for Duke (his audition was a song he'd written called "Lush Life"). He composed and arranged the band's theme, "Take the A Train," and much of their most haunting music, including "Chelsea Bridge" and "Passion Flower." Leonard wrote: "The sympathetic musical vibrations between Strayhorn and Ellington were so acute that sometimes neither they themselves nor members of the band could recollect at what point the work of one had left off and the other had begun."
Ellington's Farewell to Billy Strayhorn
(from the liner notes of "And His Mother Called Him Bill")
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