AN HOMAGE TO BILLY STRAYHORN'S "LUSH LIFE", an obsession fullfilled by ©Tony Scott

Billy Strayhorn wrote "Lush Life" in 1938 at 22 years of age. It is the greatest song ever written in American music, white or black. It is to jazz musicians what Mount Everest is to mountain climbers, most difficult to conquer. I am studying it since 1973. I wanted to be inside the song, so that I could be inspired to play it on all my instruments and discover new ways to use its music and lyrics.

Billy died in 1967. At the funeral I pinned flowers on mourners who arrived, like Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Lena Horne. After the service I met Aaron Bridgers, pianist and Billy's closest friend. He mentioned "Lush Life". I asked him for a copy. Aaron gave me handwritten versions and a tape of Billy playing and singing it.

Many pianists never played "Lush Life". It is a very complicated melody which never goes the same place twice. It has small changes in the melody throughout and has more chord changes than any other song used by jazz musicians.

The greatest singers have sung "Lush Life" wrong. Even Billy's own version recorded in Paris has a mistake in the melody. He plays it with no improvisation. The melody and words are his, yet even he can't beat the curse of playing "Lush Life" incorrectly, like so many respected jazz musicians. The people who might have played it as a jazz song and really played well improvising, such as Art Tatum, Charlie Parker, Lester Young never played it. The great "Lady Day" Billie Holiday never sang it, although I heard that Billy was teaching it to her. What incredible versions we missed! Miles has never tried it. And I don't think he can make a popular rock version of it.

Lush Life for me by ©Tony Scott

This song has got everything, man - the damned thing has saved my life sometimes when I've been so down! I made two records of only version of Lush Life! Eventually there will be seven records, yeah.
I recorded my daughter singing it when she was five years old, in tune and the right notes, and her enunciation and tone was so pure it wiped out all my work.
I sing it myself all different ways, I play it on different instruments.

I recite it. I do it as a drama, I do it as a blues, as a pornographic blues, as a rap -it's such a complicated melody, no one has sung it right yet, including Nat King Cole, Sarah Vaughan, everybody - they all goof it. Oscar Peterson gets lost, he plays it all wrong. If he did the same of Stardust he'd be booed off the stage, it's so blatantly wrong. Coltrane doesn't know it. Johnny Hartman gets it wrong. Ella, Joe Pass - everybody. Of course, a lot of people who maybe should have done it never did.