Dutch Jazz Orchestra

The Dutch Jazz Orchestra: Rediscovered Music of Mary Lou Williams

by Edward Blanco
March 31, 2006

The Dutch Jazz Orchestra is known for performing the obscure and neglected works of better-known composers, arrangers and bandleaders like Duke Ellington, Gil Evans, Billy Strayhorn, and Gerry Mulligan. With this album, the group continues its historic mission by unearthing and reviving the music of Mary Lou Williams. One of the few women in jazz who found her calling as a writer and educator, Williams is credited with composing and arranging for many musicians and big bands, including the Ellington ...

The Dutch Jazz Orchestra / Jerry Van Rooijen: You Go To My Head

by C. Michael Bailey
May 1, 2002

His mother called him Bill...the arranger

Dayton, Ohio-native William Thomas Strayhorn tooled around forever in the shadow of Duke Ellington. But is that so bad? Truly one of the greatest collaborations in jazz, the Strayhorn/Ellington alliance produced a mountain of standards for the jazz repertoire. Strayhorn alone was credited with composing Ellington's theme ("Take the A Train") and several other Ellington-book war-horses ("Lush Life", “Passion Flower," “UMMG," “Blood Count," and the list goes on).

A bigger part of Strayhorn's ...