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"Divaville Lounge" with Sarah O (archive)

step into the lounge!

Sunday, October 1, 2023 | 14:00 to 16:00 | jazz/pop vocalists

http://www.divavillelounge.org

Artist	Song	Album	Label	Comments
Cavalcade of America 14 July 1937	George Gershwin Introduction	Cavalcade of America	otr-cat.com	today's show is a tribute to George Gershwin! whose 124th birthday was Sept 26
Paul Whiteman Orchestra feat. George Gershwin	Rhapsody In Blue	Gershwin Plays Gershwin	Naxos	written 1924 rec. 1924 this piece was commissioned by Whiteman and his orchestra performed it many times
Fred Astaire w/ George Gershwin	The Half of It Dearie Blues	Fred Astaire The Complete London Sessions	Parlophone UK	written 1924 for Lady, Be Good rec 1926 note Astaire and Gershwin talking to each other during the song "how's that George? Fine Freddie, keep it up!" Astaire and Gershwin met as teenegers when Fred and Adele Astaire had a vaudeville act and Gershwin was a song plugger. They became close friends and Astaire introduced many of Gershwin's songs
George Gershwin solo piano	Prelude No. 1: Allegro ben ritmato e deciso	Gershwin Plays Gershwin	Naxos	all 3 preludes written 1926 rec. 1928
George Gershwin solo piano	Prelude No. 2: Andante con moto	Gershwin Plays Gershwin	Naxos
George Gershwin solo piano	Prelude No. 3: Agitato	Gershwin Plays Gershwin	Naxos

Ella Fitzgerald	Someone To Watch Over Me	The George and Ira Gershwin Songbook	Verve	w. Ira Gershwin written 1926 for Oh, Kay! this recording 1959
Mel Torme w/ Marty Paich Dek-tette	Fascinating Rhythm	Lulu's Back In Town	Bethlehem Archive	w. Ira Gershwin written 1924 for Lady, Be Good this recording 1956
Julie London	'S Wonderful	Fascinating Rhythm: Capitol Sings George Gershwin	Capitol	w. Ira Gershwin written 1927 for Funny Face this recording 1955
Frank Sinatra	I've Got a Crush On You	Nice 'n' Easy	Capitol	w. Ira Gershwin written 1928 for Treasure Girl also appeared in Strike Up The Band 1930 this is the only George & Ira song that was used in two different shows. This recording 1960
Chet Baker	But Not For Me	The Best of Chet Baker Sings	Blue Note	w. Ira Gershwin written 1930 for Girl Crazy this recording 1954
Ella Fitzgerald	How Long Has This Been Going On?	Twelve Nights in Hollywood	Verve	w. Ira Gershwin 1927 for Funny Face, the song was dropped from Funny Face and later used in the Broadway show Rosalie. this recording 1961

Victor Symphony Orchestra led by Nat Shilkret feat. George Gershwin	An American In Paris	Victor 35963	Victor	written 1928 this was the first recording in 1929. Gershwin was present at the recording session to consult, but Shilkret bristled at Gershwin's supervision and asked him to leave. Shilkret later had to ask him to return to perform the celesta solo which none of the band were able to do. So Gershwin is on this recording, but only briefly

Fred Van Eps & the Van Eps Quartet feat. George Gershwin	Swanee	Gershwin Plays Gershwin	Naxos	w. Irving Caesar written 1919 for the show Demi-tasse. This was the first recording in 1920. Al Jolson heard Gershwin play this song at a party and put it in his show Sinbad, where it became a massive hit. This was the best selling song of Gershwin's career. Royalties from "Swanee" allowed Gershwin to write the music he wanted to write, not spend his time chasing hits to pay the bills as most Tin Pan Alley songwiters had to do. Many of Gershwin's ambitious works are at least in part owed to the financial security he gained from "Swanee"
Cliff "Ukulele Ike" Edwards	Somebody Loves Me	Singin' In The Rain	ASV Living Era	w. Ballard McDonald & Buddy DeSylva written 1924 for George White's Scandals of 1924 this recording 1925
Chick Webb & His Little Chicks	I Got Rhythm	Complete Chick Webb & Ella Fitzgerald Decca Sessions 1934-1941	Mosaic	w. Ira Gershwin written 1930 for Girl Crazy The chord progression introduced in this song, called 'rhythm changes', was the foundation for many jazz works that followed including "Cotton Tail" by Duke Ellington, "Seven Come Eleven" by Charlie Christian, "Salt Peanuts" and "Anthropology" by Dizzy Gillespie. This recording 1937. Chick Webb and His Little Chicks was a six piece "band within a band" with striking interplay between Chauncey Haughton on clarinet and Wayman Carver on flute
Jones-Smith Incorporated (Count Basie)	Lady, Be Good	Classic 1936-1947 Count Basie and Lester Young Studio Sessions	Mosaic	w. Ira Gershwin written 1924 for Lady, Be Good. The show Lady, Be Good was a huge step in the careers of the Gershwins and the Astaires, who were good friends. This recording 1936
Lena Horne	The Man I Love	Stormy Weather	RCA	w. Ira Gershwin written 1924 for Lady, Be Good but dropped from the show, later used in Strike Up the Band in 1930. This recording 1941
Fred Astaire	Things Are Looking Up	Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers at RKO	Rhino	w. Ira Gershwin written 1937 for film A Damsel In Distress. This recording is from the movie

Alexander String Quartet	Lullaby for String Quartet	Gershwin & Kern	Foghorn Classics	written 1919 (he was 19 years old!) for solo piano, arranged for string quartet in 1920. This was a student project, Gershwin was studying music theory at the time
RKO Radio Studio Orchestra	Promenade (Walking The Dog)	George & Ira Gershwin in Hollywood		written 1937 for Shall We Dance, this recording is from the movie
Fred Astaire & Dudley Dickerson	Slap That Bass	Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers at RKO	Rhino	written 1937 for Shall We Dance, this recording from the movie. The piece is unusual in that it features the ship's engine as percussion, and also in having a black and white man sing together. This was extremely unusual in movies at the time, the film industry was heavily segregated. If black people appeared at all in a Hollywood musical number they were in a self-contained "specialty" number which could be removed from copies of the movie sent to the south

Billie Holiday & Her Orchestra	Summertime	Lady Day	Sony	w. DuBose Heyward and Ira Gershwin, written 1935 for Porgy & Bess, the folk opera Geshwin wrote with DuBose Heyward and Ira Gershwin based on the play by DuBose & Dorothy Heyward. This recording 1936
Aretha Franklin	It Ain't Necessarily So	The Great American Songbook	Columbia/Legacy	w. Ira Gershwin, written 1935 for Porgy & Bess, this song was controversial at the time because the lyrics seem to discredit the Bible: "the things that you're liable to read in the Bible ain't necessarily so." This recording 1961
Ella Fitzgerald	Nice Work If You Can Get It	Live At Mister Kelly's	Verve	w. Ira Gershwin, written 1937 for A Damsel In Distress, this recording 1958
Dakota Staton	They All Laughed	Fascinating Rhythm: Capitol Sings George Gershwin	Capitol	w. Ira Gershwin, written 1937 for Shall We Dance, this recording 1958
Frank Sinatra	A Foggy Day	Songs For Young Lovers & Swing Easy	Capitol	w. Ira Gershwin, written 1937 for A Damsel In Distress, this recording 1954
Nat King Cole Trio	Embraceable You	Complete Capitol Recordings of the King Cole Trio	Mosaic	w. Ira Gershwin, written 1928 for an unpublished operetta called East Is West. In 1930 the song was published and included in Girl Crazy. This recording 1942
Fred Astaire	They Can't Take That Away From Me	Top Hat, White Tie and Tails	ASV Living Era	w. Ira Gershwin, written 1937 for Shall We Dance. George Gershwin, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers all called this song a personal favorite. This was a studio recording made by Astaire around the time the movie came out
Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong	Our Love Is Here To Stay	Ella and Louis Again	Verve	w. Ira Gershwin, written 1937 for The Goldwyn Follies. This was Gershwin's final composition, written just before he died of a brain tumor July 11 1937. The song was unfinished, but Gershwin had an idea for the unfinished verse which he had played for Ira Gershwin and friend Oscar Levant. They were able to communicate it to composer Vernon Duke who reconstructed the unfinished part of the work. Interesting trivia: Sam Goldwyn did not like this song. It was only briefly in the movie, and Goldwyn made Gershwin play it in its entirety at a conference with a group of studio execs: audition the song in essence. Gershwin found this deeply insulting and told a friend, "I had to live for this -- tht Sam Goldwyn should say to me, "Why don't you write hits like Irving Berlin?'"