Description
Ira was known as “The Jeweler,” a songsmith whose exquisite craftsmanship allowed him to embed a seamless mosaic of words within the contour of a melodic line. And when his brother George sat at the piano, an endless assortment of tunes came dripping from his fingers.
From their first hit in 1918, “The Real American Folk Song (Is a Rag),” along with immortal blockbusters like “I Got Rhythm,” “Embraceable You” and “The Man I Love,” to the heart-wrenching “Love Is Here to Stay,” a song left unfinished by George’s death in July 1937, the brother’s legacy of over two dozen scores for Broadway and Hollywood helped establish musical comedy as an American art form.
American music specialist and Gershwin scholar Robert Wyatt reviews the lives of the Gershwin brothers, from their simple roots, through their Tin Pan Alley apprenticeship, to the glory years that were too short.”
Recorded on September 27, 2023.
