George Gershwin

Read About This Recording

George Gershwin's accomplishments as a composer are so vast that it is remarkable to think that he wrote all of his music in just a little over a 20-year period. Dozens of his popular songs became standards (think of how often "Lady Be Good," "I Got Rhythm" and "The Man I Love" have been recorded), bridged the gap between jazz and classical with "Rhapsody In Blue," composed concert works for classical orchestras, and still found time to write for the movies and shows. It was a short but very full life.

This definitive ten-CD set from the European Membran label covers Gershwin's legacy from a variety of angles. Gershwin is heard on piano playing his own works, both popular and classical. Three CDs feature a variety of artists performing songs that Gershwin wrote for films, some of which are taken directly from soundtracks. A disc apiece features recordings from the early 1920s, the later Broadway Musicals, and "Great Songs Presented By Great Stars." There is also a jazz-oriented disc of Gershwin songs and a complete version of his first jazz opera, "Blue Monday." In addition to the composer, such performers as Ethel Waters, Duke Ellington, Paul Whiteman, Lena Horne, Benny Goodman, Billie Holiday, Fred Astaire, Judy Garland and Charlie Parker ("Embraceable You") make it known that everyone loves the music of George Gershwin.

—Scott Yanow

Contents

Imported from Europe!

CD 1: Gershwin Plays Gershwin—Rare Recordings, 1932-35 (TT: 55:04): Variations on Fascinating Rhythm; Variations on Liza; Second Prelude; Interview; I Got Rhythm; Signature; Of Thee I Sing: Overture; The Man I Love; I Got Rhythm; Commercial; Swanee; Sign-off; Signature; Mine; Variations on I Got Rhythm; Love is Sweeping the Country; Commercial; Wintergreen for President; Sign-off; Introduction; Summertime (Vocals by Abbie Mitchell); A Woman is a Sometime Thing (Vocals by Edward Matthews); Act I, Scene 1: Finale; My Man's Gone Now (Vocals by Ruby Elzy); Bess, You Is My Woman Now (Vocals by Todd Duncan and Anne Brown).

CD 2: Instrumental Works for the Concert Hall, All Songs Written & Performed By George Gershwin (TT: 46:41): Rhapsody in Blue; Prelude No. 1; Prelude No. 2; Prelude No. 2; Andante from Rhapsody in Blue; An American in Paris; Second Rhapsody Rehearsal Performance.

CD 3: Gershwin on Screen I—Girl Crazy and Rhapsody in Blue (TT: 60:12): You've Got What Gets Me; Fascinating Rhythm; Embraceable You; Boy! What Love Has Done to Me (Extended Version); Treat Me Rough (Extended Version); I Got Rhythm; Could You Use Me; Overture Medley: Swanee/Somebody Loves Me/Fascinating Rhythm/Embraceable You/Oh, Lady Be Good/The Man I Love/I Got Rhythm/Liza/Rhapsody in Blue/Strike Up the Band; Swanee; 135th Street Blues (Blue Monday); Summertime (Extended Version); Delicious (Extended Version); Third Prelude (Outtake). Artists include: Eddie Quillan, Dixie Lee, Mitzi Green, Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, Ralph Blane, Henry Kruze, June Allyson, Hal Hopper, Trudy Erwin, Bobbie Canvin, Al Jolson, John B. Hughes, Anne Brown, Sally Sweetland, Oscar Levant, The Warner Brothers Studio Chorus, The Music Maids, Six Hits & a Miss, Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra, RKO Studio Orchestra.

CD 4: Gershwin on Screen II—Shall We Dance, Damsel in Distress a.o. (TT: 50:20) Shall We Dance (Overture); Slap That Bass; (I've Got) Beginner's Luck; They All Laughed (With Extended Chorus); Let's Call the Whole Thing Off; They Can't Take That Away From Me; Promenade (Walking the Dog); Shall We Dance (Final); I Can't Be Bothered Now; A Foggy Day; Nice Work If You Can Get It; Things Are Looking Up; I Was Doing All Right; Love Walked In (Outtake); Oh! Lady Be Good. Artists include: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Jan Duggen, Mary Dean, Pearl Amator, Virginia Verrill, Jon Hall, RKO Radio Orchestra/Nathaniel Shilkret/Victor Baravelle, The Samuel Goldwyn Studio Orchestra/Edward Powell, Artie Shaw & His Orchestra.

CD 5: Gershwin on Screen III—Strike Up the Band, Broadway Rhythm, Ziegfeld Follies and The Shocking Miss Pilgrim (TT: 51:05): Strike Up the Band; Somebody Loves Me; The Babbit and the Bromide; Liza (All the Clouds'll Roll Away; Opening Music/Sweet Packard; Changing My Tune; Stand Up and Fight; Aren't You Kind of Glad We Did; Changing My Tune (Reprise); Back Bay Polka (But Not in Boston); One, Two, Three; Waltzing is Better Sitting Down; Waltz Me No Waltzes; For You, For Me, For Evermore; For You, For Me, For Evermore (Reprise); Aren't You Kind of Glad We Did (Finale). Artists include: Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Avon Long, Betty Grable, Dick Haymes, Allyn Joslyn, Charles Kemper, Six Hits & a Miss, The MGM Studio Chorus & Orchestra/Georgie Stoll.

CD 6: Early Recordings of the '20s—Broadway Shows & Musicals (TT: 48:15): Somebody Loves Me; I'll Build a Stairway to Paradise; Nashville Nightingale, I Won't Say I Will (But I Won't Say I Won't); Boy Wanted; Song of the Flame; Clap Yo' Hands; Do, Do, Do; Someone to Watch Over Me; Fascinating Rhythm; Oh! Lady Be Good; Funny Face; That Certain Feeling; Looking for a Boy; Sweet and Low-Down; The Man I Love. Artists include: Irene Bordoni, Heather Thatcher, Tessa Kosta, Gertrude Lawrence, Tom Waring, Cliff Edwards, Fred Astaire, Adele Astaire, Vaughn de Leath, The Columbians Dance Orchestra, Paul Whiteman & His Orchestra, Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians, Roger Wolfe Kahn & His Orchestra, Percival Mackey & His Band, Fred Rich & His Hotel Astor Orchestra.

CD 7: The Later Broadway Musicals (TT: 48:57): My One and Only; 'S Wonderful; Oh Gee! Oh Joy; Liza; Soon; I Got Rhythm; Bidin' My Time; Sam and Delilah; My Cousin in Milwaukee; Let 'em Eat Cake; Overture from Of Thee I Sing; Who Cares; The Buzzard Song; I Got Plenty O' Nuttin'; The Man I Love. Artists include: Charles Murray, Sam Browne, Bob Treaster, Victor Arden, Phil Ohman, Ethel Waters, Chick Bullock, Lyda Roberti, Lawrence Tibbett, Todd Duncan, Lena Horne, Johnny Johnson & His Statler Pennsylvanians, Ben Selvin & His Orchestra, Leo Reisman & His Orchestra, The Blue Jeans, Duke Ellington & His Cotton Club Orchestra, Paul Whiteman & His Orchestra, NBC Radio Orchestra.

CD 8: Great Songs Presented By Great Stars (TT: 41:20): Somebody Loves Me; I'll Build a Stairway to Paradise; Summertime; 'S Wonderful; Liza; Who Cares; But Not for Me; Embraceable You; But Not for Me; Mine; Aren't You Kinda Glad We Did; The Man I Love; Someone to Watch Over Me; Embraceable You. Artists include: Fred Astaire, Helen Forrest, Judy Garland, Ivan Ditmars, Bing Crosby, Vaughn Monroe, Betty Norton, Frank Sinatra, Benny Goodman & His Orchestra, Benny Goodman Quartet, Johnny Williams & His Swing Sextet, Billie Holiday & Her Orchestra, The Nat King Cole Trio, Harry James & His Orchestra, Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra, Alex Stordahl & His Orchestra, Charlie Parker Quintet.

CD 9: Gershwin in Jazz (TT: 62:42): Love Walked In; Love Is Here to Stay; I Can't Get Started; But Not for Me; The Man I Love; A Foggy Day; I Got Rhythm; Lady Be Good; Nice Work If You Can Get It; Love Walked In; They Can't Take That Away From Me; Maybe; Liza (All the Clouds'll Roll Away); How Long Has This Been Going On; Jenny; My One and Only Love; Fascinating Rhythm; Swanee. Artists include: Chet Baker, Ben Webster, Lester Young, Sonny Rollins, Django Reinhardt, Mel Tormé, Oscar Peterson, Zoot Sims, Buddy Rich, Dave Brubeck, Sarah Vaughan, Bing Crosby, Fletcher Henderson, J.J. Johnson, Mildred Bailey, Ella Fitzgerald, Stan Kenton, Judy Garland.

CD 10: Blue Monday (A One Act Jazz Opera): Blue Monday; Looking for a Boy; Sweet and Low-Down; Maybe; Clap Yo' Hands; My One and Only; 'S Wonderful/Funny Face; Someone to Watch Over Me; That Certain Feeling; Delicious*; Dream Sequence*; Somebody From Somewhere*; Katinkitschken*; Blah, Blah, Blah*; New York Rhapsody: Explanation of the Scene*; New York Rhapsody*. *Original soundtrack. Artists include: Francois-Joel Thiollier, Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana.