Interlude - July 30
July 30, 2020
Democracy jingles, a Gershwin classic and fun from Carnegie Hall
Welcome back to Interlude, your twice-weekly portal to all sorts of fun, enriching and educational material, available free online from local, national and global artists and presenters.
This music is here to stay
The Rockies may crumble, Gibraltar may tumble, but our Artistic Director, Michael Feinstein, will still be dishing up treasures from the Great American Songbook. Today’s gem is “Love Is Here to Stay,” written by the Gershwins for the 1938 film The Goldwyn Follies, one of the early Technicolor musicals.
Since then, the tune has been recorded by a dizzying array of singers, from Billie Holiday and Dinah Washington to Pat Boone and Toni Tennille, not to mention Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, Diana Ross, Nat King Cole, Natalie Cole and a couple all-star duos: Ella Fitzgerald with Louis Armstrong and Tony Bennett with Diana Krall. Enjoy the song!
The Notes with Michael Feinstein video series is sponsored by the Payne & Mencias Group.
Songs for your election season
This year’s election is a big one, and the countdown has just passed the 100-day mark. If anyone you know needs some gentle encouragement to get to the polls, the Great American Songbook Foundation can help.
In the 1940s, lyricist Hy Zaret – whose papers, as the co-author of "Unchained Melody” and other timeless songs, are maintained in the Songbook Archives – was commissioned to write a series of one-minute radio jingles on civics, racial harmony and other issues in American life. Think of them as a precursor to ABC’s Schoolhouse Rock! PSAs for television.
One collection in the series was Little Songs for Busy Voters, with charming little ditties like "Register, Inform Yourself and Vote," "Married, Moved, Come of Age" and "See You at the Polls." They are available for listening through Argosy Music Corp.
For more history on music of the campaign trail, visit the Foundation’s online exhibit Of Thee I Sing: Politics on Stage.
Entertainment and education from Carnegie Hall
Much like the Center for the Performing Arts, New York’s venerated Carnegie Hall has taken a temporary break from onsite performances but is still working to serve its audiences with an engaging diet of digital arts content.
On the arts and entertainment side, there’s Live with Carnegie Hall, a series of livestreams archived for later viewing, featuring performances and discussions with leading artists from every conceivable genre. The episode premiering at 2 p.m. today happens to include several of the Center’s past headliners: Judy Collins with special guests Shawn Colvin, Alan Cumming and Jimmy Webb, as well as Steve Earle. (Full disclosure: Our artistic director, Michael Feinstein, appears in no less than three episodes, offering tributes to composers George Gershwin, Irving Berlin and Cole Porter.)
On the education and family fun side, there’s Learn with Carnegie Hall, a similar series with offerings that include forays into folk music from around the world. Take a trip!
