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Duke Ellington's co-composer, arranger and right-hand man, Billy
Strayhorn, a gay man, had to lead a discreet existence.
Winner of a 2008 News & Documentary Emmy - BEST
DOCUMENTARY
As Duke Ellington's co-composer, arranger and right-hand man,
Billy Strayhorn wrote some of the greatest American music of the
20th century. But as a gay man in the 40s and 50s, Strayhorn had to
lead a discreet existence, while Ellington played to thunderous
applause on center stage. This film tells the story of the
unheralded man who changed jazz and popular music forever,
maintaining artistic and personal integrity while challenging
prejudice along the way. By Robert Levi.