The focus of my teaching on the Jazzy website has been to introduce you to a method for playing tunes like these in a way that jazz players have come to interpret them.  If you have developed an appreciation for these songs, here is a chance to learn about the composers who wrote them and to introduce you to the great body of their work.

Their parents migrated from Russia in the early 1890’s. They lived in the heart of the Jewish immigrant community on the lower east side of Manhattan. There were four children of which Ira and George were the oldest. After the brothers became successful they lived in adjoining penthouses in New York that served as their creative center.

George loved being surrounded by people and did much of his composing in the middle of parties. To hear George play was an uplifting experience. He had a very playful way of performing and emanated a charisma at the piano that made the listener feel good just to be in the room with him. George was largely self-taught. He studied piano formally only for a few years as a young teenager.

Ira’s lyric writing was slow, careful and determined. He never rested until he had exactly the lyric he was looking for. Sometimes spending days on a single line of a song. He strove for perfection. A real wordsmith, he liked to play with the English language. He often incorporated bad English and slang into his songs deliberately for effect.

Together they wrote some 754 songs over a twenty-year period, all for Broadway musicals. Many became big hits and still remain popular today. Jazz musicians have always enjoyed playing and exploring Gershwin songs. Their structure is especially adaptive to jazz. George himself loved to listen to jazz and enjoyed hearing musicians improvise on his tunes. George's use of “blue notes” in his pop songs and orchestra works was innovative in the 1920’s. 

Ira continued working with other composers after George’s untimely death, at the young age of thirty-seven. Ira partnered himself with composers, Kurt Weil, Vernon Duke and Harold Arlen. His last hit song was with Arlen in 1954, “The Man That Got Away,” for the movie “ A Star is Born.”

A selection of Gershwin brothers Songs. . . 

    * Swanee (1919)

    * Lady Be Good (1924)

    * The Man I Love (1924)

    * Fascinating Rhythm (1924)

    * Somebody Loves Me(1924)

    * The Rhapsody In Blue (1924)

    * Someone To Watch Over Me (1926)

    * How Long Has This Been Going On?(1927)

    * He Loves, She Loves (1927)

    * S'Wonderful (1927)

    * I've Got A Crush On You (1928)

    * Liza (1929)

    * I’m Biddin’ My Time (1930)

    * Embraceable You(1930)

    * But Not For Me (1930)

    * I Got Rhythm (1930)

    * Who Cares? (1931)

    * Strike Up The Band (1931)

    * I Loves You Porgy (1935)

    * Got Plenty O' Nuttin' (1935)

    * Summertime (1935)

    * I Love To Rhyme (1936)

    * I’ve Got Beginers Luck (1936)

    * Shall We Dance (1937)

    * Slap That Bass (1937)

    * Love Is Here To Stay (1937)

    * Let's Call The Whole Thing Off (1937)

    * Nice Work If You Can Get It (1937)

    * They Can't Take That Away (1937)

    * I Can't Be Bothered Now (1937)

    * They All Laughed (1937) )

    * Isn’t It A Pity (1938)

· Love Walked Right In (1938)

Cole was born in 1891 into a high society family of means in Indiana. He received a first class education as a child in French, violin, piano and horseback riding. Then his family sent him to both Yale and Harvard Universities. Cole's favorite past time as a young man was writing songs. He wrote many musicals while at Yale. He even wrote a cheer leading song for the Yale football team that is still used today. He dreamed about being a Broadway composer and finally got his chance in 1916. Cole wrote the music to a musical called “ See America First” that was dismal flop. Young Cole was devastated by the public response, so much so, that he left the country for France and joined the French Foreign Legion during World War I!

When the war ended, Cole stayed on in Europe and lived there until he was 37 years old. In Paris he met and married a beautiful American divorcee. Linda Thomas, who was also a high society figure. They bought beautiful palatial homes in Venice and Paris and did what they enjoyed doing most, constantly hosting lavish parties and inviting the likes of Counts and Princesses, movie stars and entertainers. Their parties were always the talk of the town and were widely known internationally. 

All along Cole kept writing songs and submitting to Broadway, but was continually rejected. He said he would write 4 or 5 songs a day just to keep in practice. He was an unusual songwriter by the fact he was already financially successful. His daily writing routing would begin with his personal valet sharpening his pencils for him and when the pencils would get dull he would put them by the side of his desk and his valet would pick them up and keep them constantly sharp for him.

Cole finally stepped into international fame as a song writer when he moved back to the states to New York at the suggestion of his admirer and friend, Irving Berlin. He was immediately sought after by Broadway producers. His first show upon his return, Paris, produced the hit song, Let’s Fall in Love. Followed by, What is Thing called Love, from Wake Up and Dream.  He was constantly in demand writing hundreds of songs for Shows and Musicals into mid 1950’s.

A partial list of Cole Porter tunes. . .

    * OLD FASHIONED GARDEN 1919

    * LET’S MISBEHAVE 1927

    * LETS DO IT 1928

    * WHAT IS THIS THING CALLED LOVE? 1928

    * YOU DO SOMETHING TO ME 1929

    * LOVE FOR SALE 1930

    * NIGHT AND DAY. 1932

    * ANYTHING GOES 1932

    * I GET A KICK OUT OF YOU 1932

    * YOU’RE THE TOP 1932

    * BEGIN THE BEGUINE 1934

    * IT’S DELOVELY 1934

    * JUST ONE OF THOSE THINGS 1934

    * DON’T FENCE ME IN 1934

    * EASY TO LOVE 1936

    * I’VE GOT YOU UNDER MY SKIN 1936

    * AT LONG LAST LOVE 1937

    * MY HEART BELONGS TO DADDY 1938

    * MOST GENTLEMEN DON’T LIKE LOVE 1938

    * GET OUT OF TOWN 1938

    * YOU’D BE SO NICE TO COME HOME TO 1943

    * MISS OTIS REGRETS

    * LITTLE RUMBA NUMBER 1941

    * YOU IRRITATE ME SO 1941

    * I HATE YOU DARLING 1941

    * LET’S NOT TALK ABOUT LOVE 1941

    * DREAM DANCING 1941

    * EVERY TIME YOU SAY GOODBYE

    * FRIENDSHIP

    * I LOVE YOU 1944

    * FROM THIS MOMENT ON

    * I LOVE PARIS 1953

    * C’EST MAGNIFIQUE 1953

    * CAN CAN 1953

    * ITS ALRIGHT WITH ME 1953

    * WUNDERBAR 1948

    * ALWAYS TRUE TO YOU DARLING 1948

    * ANOTHER OPENING ANOTHER SHOW 1948

    * WHY CAN’T YOU BEHAVE 1948

    * ALWAYS TRUE TO YOU DARLING 1948

    * IT’S TOO DARN HOT 1948

    * WE OPEN IN VENICE 1948

    * BRUSH UP YOUR SHAKESPEARE 1948

    * SO IN LOVE 1948

    * ALL OF YOU 1955

    * TRUE LOVE 1956

Hart was a self-educated man with a vivacious personality. He was raised in an artistic and theatrical family environment. He was writing plays and lyrics when very young, having them staged every year at the summer camps he attended. Dick and Larry began to work together on amateur shows in 1919.

Dick was 16 years old at the time and Larry was 23. They achieved their first professional success with The Garrick Gaieties (1925). During the 1920's and 1930's, Rodgers and Hart helped hone musical comedy into a well-developed art form. The team produced its best work during that period and only Cole Porter rivaled Hart for satirical wit and freshness of rhymes. Hart and Rodgers moved to Hollywood in 1930 to compose for motion pictures. They returned to New York City in 1934 and resumed writing for the stage. Their songs appeared in such musicals as, A Connecticut Yankee (1927), Jumbo (1935), On Your Toes (1936). Babes in Arms (1937), The Boys from Syracuse (1938 and Pal Joey (1940). 

Here are some of their compositions. . .

· Manhattan 1925

    * Blue Room 1926

    * Mountain Greenery 1926

    * My Heart Stood Still 1927

    * Thou Swell 1927

    * You Took Advantage of Me 1928

    * With A Song In My Heart 1929

    * 10 Cents a Dance 1930

    * Isn’t It Romantic? 1931

    * Dancing on the Ceiling 1931

    * Lover 1931

    * You are too bBautiful 1932

    * Easy To Remember 1934

    * Blue Moon 1934

    * My Romance 1935

    * The Most Beautiful Girl In The World 1935

    * Slaughter on Tenth Avenue 1936

    * There’s A Small Hotel 1936

    * Where or When 1937

    * Lady is a Tramp 1937

    * Johnny One Note 1937

    * My Funny Valentine 1937

    * Have you met Miss Jones? 1937

    * I Wish I Were In Love Again 1937

    * Falling In Love With Love 1938

    * This Can’t Be Love 1938

    * Spring Is Here 1938

    * You’re Nearer 1939

    * I Didn’t Know What Time It Was 1939

    * It Never Entered My Mind 1940

    * I Could Write A Book 1940

· Bewitched 1940

* A Foggy Day (1937}

Here is a list of some of his tunes are. . .

·  I Found a Million Dollar Baby (in a five and ten cent store)

    * On the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe (1945)*

    * You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby

    * You're Getting to be a Habit With Me

    * I Yi, Yi, Yi, Yi (I Like You Very Much)

    * I've Got a Gal in Kalamazoo (1942)

    * There Will Never be Another You

    * Chattanooga Choo Choo (1941)

    * With Plenty of Money and You

    * An Affair to Remember (1957).

    * Down Argentina Way (1940)

    * Boulevard of Broken Dreams

    * Lullaby of Broadway (1935).

    * Jeepers Creepers (1938)

    * You'll Never Know (1943)

    * I Had the Craziest Dream

    * We're in the Money(1933)

    * By the River Sainte Marie

    * I'll String Along With You

    * I Only Have Eyes for You

    * September in the Rain

    * Cheerful Little Earful

    * Lulu's Back in Town

    * Forty Second Street

    * That's Amore (1953)

    * Shuffle Off to Buffalo

    * You're My Everything

    * The More I See You

    * This Heart of Mine

    * Serenade in Blue

    * Shadow Waltz

    * Nagasaki

· At Last

· Indian Love Call (1924) with Otto Harburg and Rudolf Frimel

· Desert Song (1926) With Sigmund Romberg

· Make Believe (1927) with Jerome Kern

· Old Man River (1927) with Jerome Kern

· Bill (1927) with Jerome Kern

· Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man(1927) with Jerome Kern

· Desert Song (1926) With Sigmund Romberg

· Stout Hearted Men (1928) With Sigmund Romberg

· Lover Come Back to Me (1928) With Sigmund Romberg

· Softly As In A Morning Sunrise (1928) With Sigmund Romberg

· The Song Is You (1932) with Jerome Kern

· I Won’t Dance (1934) with Jerome Kern

· When I Grow Too Old Too Dream (1935) With Sigmund Romberg

· I’ll Take Romance (1936)

· All The Things You Are (1939) with Jerome Kern

· The Last Time I Saw Paris (1940) with Jerome Kern

As well as many others from his many musical productions listed below.

Oscar Hammerstein II was an American writer, producer, and director of musicals for almost forty years. While a student at Columbia University he participated in his first plays with several Varsity Shows. Throughout the next forty years of his life, he would team up with many superb composers. One such early association was with Jerome Kern.  In 1927 they collaborated on the musical, ‘Show Boat.” This production is still considered to be one of the masterpieces of the American musical theatre.

Hammerstein most successful and sustained collaboration came in 1943 when he teamed up with Richard Rodgers. The result of this new collaboration was Oklahoma, a show that revolutionized the American musical theatre by tightly integrating all the aspects of musical theater, with the songs and dances arising out of the plot and characters. It also began a partnership which would produce such classic Broadway musicals as Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I, Me & Juliet, Pipe Dream, Flower Drum Song, and The Sound of Music as well as the musical film State Fair.

Oscar Hammerstein is today considered the most important figure in the history of American musical theater for it was he, probably the best "book writer" in Broadway history, who made the story, not the songs or the stars, central to the American musical and brought it to full maturity as an art form.

He won two Oscars for best original song. He died at the age of 65. He was universally mourned, with the lights of Times Square and London 's West End being dimmed in recognition of his contribution to the American musical.

The Rodgers and Hammerstein list is long and full and comes mostly from the 1950's, with favorites like:

Surry With The Fringe On Top

Sound Of Music

Climb Every mountain

Oh What A beautiful Morning

It Might As Well Be Spring

Edelweiss

People will Say We're In Love

If I Loved You

Oh What A Beautiful Morning

Do-Re-Mi

You;ll Never walk Alone

Hello Young Lovers

Some Enchanted Evening and on and on. . . .