Description
Queer Arrangements is a new study of Billy Strayhorn that examines his music and career at the intersection of jazz and Black queer history
The legacy of Black queer composer, arranger, and pianist Billy Strayhorn (1915-1967) hovers at the edge of canonical jazz narratives. Queer Arrangements explores the ways in which Strayhorn's identity as an openly gay Black jazz musician shaped his career, including the creative roles he could assume and the dynamics between himself and his collaborators, most famously Duke Ellington, but also iconic singers such as Lena Horne and Ella Fitzgerald. This new portrait of Strayhorn combines critical, historically-situated close readings of selected recordings, scores, and performances with biography and cultural theory to pursue alternative interpretive jazz possibilities, Black queer historical routes, and sounds. By looking at jazz history through the instrument(s) of Strayhorn's queer arrangements, this book sheds new light on his music and on jazz collaboration at midcentury.
Author: Lisa Barg
Publisher: Wesleyan University Press
Published: 10/03/2023
Pages: 288
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.06lbs
Size: 9.01h x 6.15w x 0.53d
ISBN13: 9780819500649
ISBN10: 081950064X
BISAC Categories:
- Music | Ethnomusicology
- History | African American & Black
- History | LGBTQ+
About the Author
LISA BARG (Montreal, QC) is Associate Professor of Music History and Musicology at the Schulich School of Music at McGill University and Associate Dean of Graduate Studies. She is currently serving as Co-editor-In-Chief of Women and Music: A Journal of Gender and Culture.