This week we look at the beginnings of Jazz music, the dance craze and mania that it spawned across the country, and Tin Pan alley, the birthplace and wellspring of what we now call "standards," the songs that have become a part of the tribal memory of most of us. I would venture a guess that you have heard at least one of the thousands of songs produced by the songwriters who wrote, plugged, and published their songs. Last week's post introduced the area in New York City that became known as Tin Pan Alley and a few of the songwriters who slaved there. This week's post will show the work of three of the most successful, if not artistically than certainly commercially, composers of their day : Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, and the ground-breaking Broadway musical "Show Boat" by Jerome Kern and Richard Rodgers.

This first clip comes from the documentary "The Great American Songbook" and deals with possibly the most diverse, prolific, and popular writers of the 20th century - Irving Berlin. His songs covered so many styles and eras that there was a rumour floating around for years that he kept a black man chained to his piano in the basement because people couldn't believe he could write so well in so many idioms. His work ranges from "Alexander's Ragtime Band, one of the most successful songs of  the Ragtime era, to "White Christmas," a Yuletide standard still recorded today. He is a fascinating character and you can find many versions of his songs all over the Internet. Do some searching and I am sure you will be surprised at how many of them you already know.

Also from "The Great American Songbook" comes this clip looking at George Gershwin, who moved the tawdry and sentimental songs of Tin Pan Alley into the realm of Art. Not only were his commercial songs beautiful, smart, and touching, but his later orchestral work is considered some of the finest music ever composed in America. Watch this clip and then go to the YouTube sites I have linked and see a gorgeous short film (in two parts) that brings his "Rhapsody in Blue" to life.

Here is the first part - check it out by cutting and pasting this URL into your browser"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cocB-DHzTU

Part Two:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlSVMNd0veI

Finally, here is a short clip that looks at "Show Boat," a Broadway musical that broke many of the boundaries over what was acceptable subject matter for Broadway shows.

As always, comments are encouraged . . .