The Peaceful Side

Album Notes & Community Reviews

Recorded in Paris alongside an intimate ensemble including a vocal choir and a string quartet, 'The Peaceful Side' is a rare solo excursion for Duke Ellington's lifelong collaborator. Billy Strayhorn takes the piano bench to interpret his own legendary compositions, emphasizing lush, impressionistic melancholy over traditional swing. The album serves as a definitive showcase of his sophisticated, deeply romantic harmonic sensibility outside the shadow of the Ellington orchestra.