“Lush Life” | Listener Picks, April 18

Billy Strayhorn began to compose “Lush Life” when he was 16 years old, and continued to perfect the song over the course of five years.

Tune in today as we celebrate Jazz Appreciation Month with some of this compositions most notable covers!

In 1938, Strayhorn performed for Duke Ellington, and some accounts say that his performance of “Lush Life” and “Something to Live For” convinced Ellington to hire Strayhorn.

While Strayhorn often played the song at parties, he didn’t record the tune until his performance with Kay Davis during a Duke Ellington concert at Carnegie Hall on November 13, 1948.

Strayhorn went on to record “Lush Life” several more times, including a piano version with a chorus behind him in 1961 and a solo piano and vocal version in 1965.

Nat King Cole recorded a popular arrangement of the tune, which some say Strayhorn disliked. One of the most popular and influential versions of the song came from John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman, who recorded the tune in 1963 with Coltrane’s quartet.

The tune appears in the 2001 film Dead Again, featuring Kenneth Branagh singing the song a capella as his character awaits execution. This standard also appears in Living Out Loud (1998) and Sidewalks of New York (2001).

There are more than 800 recordings of this classic, including covers by Jack Jones, Donna Summer with Quincy Jones, Linda Ronstadt, Natalie Cole, Tito Puente and Patti Lupone.

Tune in today as we celebrate Jazz Appreciation Month with some of this compositions most notable covers!