True music must repeat the thought and inspirations of the people and the time. My people are Americans and my time is today.
     – George Gershwin

Born Sept. 26, 1898 in Brooklyn, New York
Died July 11, 1937 in Hollywood, California

George Gershwin, the son of Russian Jewish immigrants, is the quintessential American composer. His music-making started in Tin Pan Alley and wound up on Broadway and in the concert halls of America. He fulfilled his destiny and lived up to his own definition of music: “True music must repeat the thought and inspirations of the people and the time. My people are Americans and my time is today.”  If ever a musician was attuned to his age and country, it was George Gershwin.

What a pity his sudden death cut short the music that flowed from this Tin Pan Alley pianist/composer whose Jazz-age songs, Broadway and Hollywood musicals, piano and concert works had catapulted him to the pinnacle of success at a young age.  Gershwin’s first published song called “When You Want ‘Em, You Can’t Have ‘Em” earned him five dollars. Soon after he composed “Swanee” (with lyricist Irving Ceaser) and sold over a million copies. His star continued to rise until at age 39 he suddenly died, following a concert at the Hollywood Bowl. An irony of his short life is that estimates of earnings accrued during his lifetime rate him as the wealthiest composer of all time (The Guardian). Alas, “When You Want ‘Em, You Can’t Have ‘Em” and when you’ve earned the dough there’s no time to spend it.

Along with many popular song hits, his larger works included Broadway musicals  Lady Be Good (1924), Funny Face (1927), Strike Up the Band (1927), and Girl Crazy (1930); his folk opera Porgy and Bess (1935); and orchestral works (also used in films) Rhapsody in Blue for piano and orchestra (1924),   An American in Paris (1928), and Shall We Dance (1937).

Hear Gershwin playing his own Rhapsody in Blue in an early recording, which seems a bit fast but is not without its charms, and I love the “vinyl” sound quality of these old recordings:

 Personal Footnote:
In my own life Rhapsody in Blue was pivotal. On a trip to Dallas from my small home town in West Texas, I bought a copy of Rhapsody in Blue in Whittle’s Music Store, a revered Dallas institution which no longer exists.  I convinced my piano teacher Blanche Freeman to let me tackle it. I put everything I had into learning that piece, and it gave back generously. I have never identified with a work as closely as I did Rhapsody in Blue. The big jazz-inspired sounds of the city you hear in the piece captured my small-town ears and imagination. Even today I get inspired when walking on the streets of New York, and I thank Gershwin for the music that still sings in my ears and heart. And I still have my cherished copy of Rhapsody in Blue, with its tattered blue cover.

Educational resources on Gershwin

Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue by Anna Harwell Celenza, illustrated by JoAnn E. Kitchel. Introduce kids to the story and music of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue in this Hardback and CD.  George Gershwin reads in the newspaper that he is performing a new concerto in Aeolian Hall in a few weeks. This is news to him! With encouragement from Paul Whiteman, and his brother Ira, he takes on the task and creates a truly American concerto–a musical kaleidoscope of urban sounds of the Jazz Age. Along the way we get glimpses of the musical scene in the 20′s in America. CD has a performance by Gershwin on a 1925 piano roll and accompanied by the Columbia Jazz Band. Hardback & CD #6582  $21.95 (available online at Music in Motion) 

Gershwin DVD. Dennis Kobray, an accomplished pianist and actor, portrays composer George Gershwin in full costume, using drama and musical performances to draw the viewer into the composer’s world. Students meet the composer face-to-face, hearing of his hardships, sacrifices, and triumphs. Elem.-high school. A tour de force! 54 min. Purchase includes public performance rights. DVD #5830  $24.95 (from Music in Motion)

Getting to Know. . .George Gershwin. Mike Venezia introduces young readers to classical music and to the lives of composers through playful tales, cartoons and source illustrations from the period.  This Gershwin book is one of a series for ages 4-9. Paperback Q364  $7.95 (from Music in Motion)

Here are links & dates for jazz festivals around the world, so plan a trip around an  enticing jazz venue that beckons you to kick back and enjoy live jazz at its convivial best.

Jazz Festivals in USA

Jazz Festivals in Canada

UK Jazz Festivals

European Jazz Festivals

Worldwide jazz festivals are also listed geographically, but without dates, in Wikipedia. Their list is admittedly incomplete, but at least there are links to festivals in all countries where you can find more info.

It’s live performances that make jazz so exciting. You can’t step twice into the same river of jazz, because its improvisatory nature makes it ever changing. No artist will ever perform the same piece the same way again. Recordings are wonderful to capture some of these moments, but the excitement of jazz is that each live performance offers infinite opportunities for spontaneous combustion into new, unexpected creations. The mind is an amazing thing; the jazz mind is even more so. Those intricately connected musical wires of the brain operate as though on steroids, combining and creating music “on the fly.” And the most amazing thing about a jazz musician is his ability to listen and to communicate with his fellow musicians during a performance. Duke Ellington really nailed it when he said:

“The most important thing I look for in a musician is if he knows how to listen.”

That same ability to listen is what an audience needs to apply at a live jazz performance, knowing you won’t pass this way again. Throw yourself into the music with the same fervor of the “listening” and performing musicians. Jazz is the essence of Now, so listen with all you’ve got, and savor the fleeting moment.

Keep this schedule handy, support live performances, and best of all enjoy yourself at these wonderful live jazz events:

Jazz Festivals & Places to See Live Jazz Part 1 

Jazz Festivals & Places to See Live Jazz Part 2

Jazz Festivals & Places to See Live Jazz Part 3

“Well, I woke up this morning. Couldn’t find my shoe. . .”

We all get the blues, and we all lose our shoes. How universal is that! Humorist Sandra Boynton’s One Shoe Blues book and DVD stars B.B. King, his faithful guitar “Lucille,” and the Singing Sock Puppets. What a fun and funny intro to the blues (as well as an musical antidote to the old lost shoe syndrome)!  After all, singing the blues is about coping with things gone wrong, and even kids get the blues and must learn to cope. (In fact, mommas get the blues even worse–especially when kids lose their shoes—so this is for them too.)

And what a novel format in Boynton’s latest creation and her first foray into film directing: One Shoe Blues is a hardcover storybook with sheet music included, plus a 15-min. DVD. All you need to add are kids, with their own stray socks if they want to sing along, with or without shoes. As Boynton puts it, One Shoe Blues is “For people of all ages and most shoe sizes.”

Teaching Tips:

1. Define and discuss the “blues.” Where did this type of music originate? What kinds of feelings are expressed in the blues? Why do people find comfort in “singing the blues”? Ask kids what types of situations give them “the blues”.  Ask the group to create their own “blues” song or poem based on their personal experiences.

2.  Another idea is for kids to make up new rhyming verses  to the tune of One Shoe Blues, substituting other lost objects, such as hat, coat, or homework, for example.

“Jazz requires creativity, communication and community. Through improvising we learn to value our own creativity; through swing we coordinate our communication with others; and through the blues we learn to find and celebrate ‘meaning’ in the tragic and absurd parts of life that afflict every community. Certainly three things worth learning…” – Wynton Marsalis, quoted in Downbeat article, Oct. 2009

These words of Wynton’s show why he is a great educator as well as jazz artist.  Jazz is the most democratic, freedom-loving form of musical expression. It requires the individualistic ability to confidently “solo” and improvise within a musical group, and it necessitates listening and responding to others in a musical dialogue.  Jazz is the fine art of conversation, which requires trained listening skills. Jazz is the art of give and take.

Teaching Tip: This quote on jazz by Wynton Marsalis is a good topic for class discussion.  Ask students for concrete examples of how jazz requires “creativity, communication, and community.” And ask them to provide personal anecdotes if they have  ever witnessed or experienced firsthand these 3 C’s of jazz.

Recommended resources:

Jazz for Young People: Curriculum Kit. This is a complete multimedia curriculum on jazz, written and narrated by Wynton Marsalis, and produced by Jazz at Lincoln Center. Includes Teacher’s Guide, CD-ROM, 9 CDs, 30 Student Guides, and Video.

Marsalis on Music: Set of 4 DVDs. This PBS video series introduces both classical and jazz music to Elem.-Jr. High ages.

Marsalis on Music: Hardback and CD. Companion book and CD to Marsalis on Music DVD series.