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Whether you categorize them as "The American
Songbook", "Hollywood and Broadway music", "Jazz Standards" or "Tin Pan Alley", the songs that were
written throughout the first half of the 20th century are, by far, the most
timeless musical works our country has known. As young European songwriters traveled to Ellis
Island in the early 1900’s, they brought with them cultural and musical traditions that would begin
to influence the lyrics and melodies being written in the streets of New York City and the stages
of Broadway. The thousands of songs written throughout the 20’s, 30’s, 40’s, 50’s and 60’s, that
found fame through movie musicals and Broadway shows, became part of America's musical
fabric.
The "jazz-age" of the twenties gave us carefree and optimistic songs that kept big-bands like Duke
Ellington and Paul Whiteman performing for sold-out dance halls. The influence that jazz had on
popular music is prevalent in the songs of people like George Gershwin and Harold Arlen. They found
inspiration by visiting the music clubs in Harlem and listening to black performers like Andy Razaf
and Fats Waller. Many songs from this period are still performed today by jazz players. Mostly due
to the timeless emotion found not only in the lyric but in the melody as well.
The depressive years of the thirties guided
the public to movie houses where stories of love and romance helped them to take a break from the
realities of economic conditions. The movies could create overnight hits like "There’s A Small
Hotel" and "My Funny Valentine" from songwriters like Richard Rodgers and Lorenz
Hart.
The war years of the nineteen-forties had a
profound effect on the music we listened to. Population changes in our country introduced the
sounds of folk music and the blues. The war itself, brought about the need for patriotic lyrics
like "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy", and the post-war economic boom that followed created song favorites
like, "Moonlight In Vermont", "Swingin On A Star" and "Come Rain Or Come Shine".
As rock-and-roll began to claim the fifties
and sixties, the great songwriters of stage and film were still tapping out hits. Famous
collaborating songwriters were now common names: Rodgers and Hart, Arlen and Koehler, George and
Ira Gershwin. Many songwriters (who could now be referred to by last name), Berlin, Porter, Mercer
and Kern had all contributed to what some call "The Great American Songbook".
By the time many of these great songwriters
reached their later years, it was obvious that the country had witnessed the creation of a great
legacy. The influences of jazz, rhythm and blues, gospel and folk music all played part in what
would become known as the Golden Age of Popular Music.
These collections of
songs, some close to one hundred years old, still have a freshness every time I sing them.
Musicians, arrangers and singers who understand the history of these songs revisit them generation
after generation to create new interpretations of their melodies and lyrics, bringing their own
musical and cultural influences, and giving the listener a gift of musical
history.
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