He felt that being described as “beyond category”, an expression coined by his colleague Billy Strayhorn, was the ultimate compliment to his music.
Meanwhile, Duke Ellington, who is held up as the perfect embodiment of the ideals of jazz by Murray and Marsalis, was actually uncomfortable with the term. He felt that being described as “beyond category”, an expression coined by his colleague Billy Strayhorn, was the ultimate compliment to his music.