PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK

Billy Strayhorn grew up a poor kid in Homewood. He would go on to become one of the greatest jazz musicians of all time.

One of the defining moments that set his career in motion was an encounter with Duke Ellington on Dec. 1, 1938. At the time, Strayhorn was in his early 20s and already an incredibly talented musician working a side job as a pharmacy delivery boy. A coworker connected him with George Greenlee, whose uncle Gus owned two Crawford Grill locations in the Hill District, hot beds for jazz nightlife.

George was able to get Strayhorn backstage when Ellington came to town for a weeklong engagement at the Stanley Theater (now the Benedum). Strayhorn sat at a piano and played one of Ellington’s songs — and improved upon it. Ellington invited him to his home base of Harlem, leading to one of the pair’s greatest musical productions: “Take the ‘A’ Train.”

Strayhorn and Ellington collaborated on numerous hits and toured with other famous musicians for nearly 30 years. Strayhorn died in 1967 from esophageal cancer and Ellington died in 1974 from lung cancer.