Various Artists

With Bill Charlap, Dianne Reeves, Joe Lovano and others from the Blue Note stable gathered to pay tribute to Billy Strayhorn, the table’s set for an all-star gathering. This soundtrack to the PBS film Billy Strayhorn: Lush Life, scheduled to air February 6, largely succeeds, but omits mention of Strayhorn’s legacy: Duke Ellington’s orchestra. There’s not a single big-band chart to be heard here, despite Strayhorn’s role as Ellington’s songwriter in chief, the shy man in the corner who translated his boss’s ideas into reality. Instead, there are brief flickers of small-combo jazz greatness. Reeves lends gravity to “Something to Live For,” “Day Dream” and “The Flowers Die of Love,” but is curiously dry and patchy in “My Little Brown Book.” Lovano trades in the almost pulseless style he’s been delving into on the ECM label with bassist George Mraz and drummer Paul Motian for straight-ahead readings of “Chelsea Bridge” and “Lotus Blossom.”

Elvis Costello somehow got invited to the party to sing Strayhorn’s last song, “My Flame Burns Blue (Blood Count),” but anyone with functioning vocal cords could probably do more with the song than he does. Charlap has worked with God knows how many singers—were none of them available?

David Hajdu’s absorbing Strayhorn bio Lush Life gives an intimate portrait of the songwriter. Let’s hope the doc succeeds where the soundtrack fails. Strayhorn would’ve smiled and politely shown Costello the door.—Marc Geelhoed