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-Disk 1-

01: Prelude No. 2 - George Gershwin

02: I Got Rhythm - Ethel Waters

03: Oh, Lady, Be Good - Buck & Bubbles

04: Summertime - Billie Holiday

05: Nice Work If You Can Get It - Maxine Sullivan and Her Orchestra

06: They Can´t Take That Away From Me - Fred Astaire

07: Swanee - Al Jolson

08: Liza - Benny Goodman, clarinet

09: Someone To Watch Over Me - Frank Sinatra

10: ´S Wonderful - Dinah Shore & Buddy Clark

11: Do It Again - Jane Russell

12: Soon - Dorothy Kirsten

13: Fascinatin´ Rhythm - Morton Gould, His Piano and Orchestra

14: The Man I Love - Billie Holiday and Her Orchestra

15: Let´s Call The Whole Thing Off - Fred Astaire

16: Love Is Here To Stay - Gene Kelly

17: How Long Has This Been Going On? - Felicia Sanders

18: Blues - Harry James and His Orchestra

19: But Not For Me - Doris Day

20: A Foggy Day - Rosemary Clooney

21: (I´ll Build A) Stairway To Paradise - Georges Guétary

22: Third movement (Allegro agitato) - Oscar Levant




- DISK 2 -

01: Of Thee I Sing Overture - Buffalo Philharmonic

02: They All Laughed - Tony Bennett

03: Of Thee I Sing - The Hi-Lo´s

04: Promenade - The Los Angeles Philharmonic

05: I´ve Got A Crush On You - Ella Fitzgerald

06: Somebody Loves Me - Alberta Hunter

07: Love Walked In/Embraceable You - Maureen McGovern

08: Mine - Dick Hyman

09: Isn´t It A Pity - Mel Tormé

10: Introduction and Jazzbo Brown - André Kostelanetz and His Orchestra

11: It Ain´t Necessarily So - Aretha Franklin

12: Bess You Is My Woman Now - Robert McFerrin and Adele Addison

13: I Loves You Porgy - Miles Davis

14: My Man´s Gone Now - Sarah Vaughan

15: Dere´s A Boat Dat´s Leaving Soon For New York - Cab Calloway

16: Who Cares? - Tony Bennett

17: Rhapsody In Blue - George Gershwin

18: Strike Up The Band - André Kostelanetz And His Orchestra

19: Home Blues - Michael Feinstein

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In a career tragically cut short in mid-stride by a brain tumor, George Gershwin (1898-1937) proved himself to be not only one of the great songwriters of his extremely rich era, but also a gifted "serious" composer who bridged the worlds of classical and popular music. The latter is all the more striking, given that, of his contemporaries, Gershwin was the most influenced by such styles as jazz and blues.

Gershwin's first major hit, interpolated into the show Sinbad in 1919, was "Swanee," sung by Al Jolson. Gershwin wrote both complete scores and songs for such variety shoes as George White's Scandals (whose annual editions thus were able to introduce such songs as "I'll Build a Stairway to Paradise" and "Somebody Loves Me").

After 1924, Gershwin worked primarily with his brother Ira as his lyricist. The two scored a series of Broadway hits in the '20s and early '30s, starting with Lady Be Good (1924), which included the song "Fascinatin' Rhythm." 1924 was also the year Gershwin composed his first classical piece, "Rhapsody in Blue," and he would continue to work in the classical field until his death.

By the '30s, the Gershwins had turned to political topics and satire in response to the onset of the Depression, and their Of Thee I Sing became the first musical to win a Pulitzer Prize. In the mid '30s, Gershwin ambitiously worked to meld his show music and classical leanings in the creation of the folk opera Porgy and Bess, with lyrics by Ira and Dubose Heyward. The Gershwins had moved to Hollywood and were engaged in several movie projects at the time of George Gershwin's death.


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