Let's Face the Music
Learn the stories of the standards of the Great American Songbook – the jazz standards of the 20th Century that shaped contemporary music and often reflected the tumultuous social issues of the day.
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“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”
For this special holiday episode of Let’s Face The Music, we discover the origin of the happiest sad Christmas song. First introduced by Judy Garland, the song was recorded three times by Frank Sinatra — most shockingly for a war film, soundtracking a brutal execution scene.
Sources:
Philip Furi... -
"They Can't Take That Away From Me"
On this episode of Let’s Face The Music, we hear early versions of ‘They Can’t Take That Away From Me’ that left those involved bitter and disappointed. And we find out from Nashville composer and arranger Larissa Maestro how Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong were able to bring new life to the ...
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"My Favorite Things"
How did experimental saxophonist John Coltrane take a popular song from musical theater and transform it into a work of jazz transcendence that would go on to be a radio hit? More importantly, why did he even try?
On this episode of Let’s Face The Music, we trace the origins of ‘My Favorite Thi...
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"Strange Fruit"
What inspired a white Jewish schoolteacher to write a song depicting the horror and brutality of lynching in the 1930’s? And why did vocalist Billie Holiday choose such a polarizing song as the final number for so many of her concert appearances?
We will hear a powerful speech by a Vice-Presiden...
