Great Performances

The Great American Songbook (31x11)

: 11, 2003

Documentary assembling film clips of musical numbers from songwriters considered significant contributors to pop culture before the advent of rock and roll. Sparkling performances by Judy Garland, Lena Horne, Al Jolson, the teenage Dorothy Dandridge and the flash-dancing Nicholas Brothers light up this great documentary that originally aired on educational television. Using rare and never-before-seen footage, singer-pianist and musical historian Michael Feinstein hosts an informative look at the composers and lyricists who wrote America's standards from the 1890s through the mid-1950s.