Gershwin: Fascinatin' Rhythm

Jenny Lin’s latest release on the Steinway & Sons label is a spectacular collection of showtunes arranged by Greg Anderson, Marc-André Hamelin, Stephen Hough, Dick Hyman, Stefan Malzew, Christopher O’Riley, André Previn, Stephen Prutsman, David Saperton, Cy Walter, Alexis Weissenberg and Earl Wild.

Including new commissions and world premiere recordings, this is Steinway’s top priority release for 2012!

Jenny Lin's previous release on the Steinway & Sons label, Silent Music, was chosen as one of the best albums of the year by the New York Times in 2011.

Get Happy includes brand-new arrangements by Marc-André Hamelin (David Raskin’s “Laura”), Stefan Malzew (“Eliza in Ascot” from My Fair Lady) and Greg Anderson (Cole Porter’s “So In Love”).

World premiere recordings include Christopher O’Riley’s gorgeous arrangement of “Johanna” from Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd and Alexis Weissenberg’s exquisite version of “Lover” from the Rodgers & Hart musical film, Love Me Tonight.

First release to include all four of Stephen Hough’s arrangements of the music of Rodgers & Hammerstein.

Bonus track for iTunes of Uri Caine’s arrangement of “Honeysuckle Rose by” Fats Waller.

In this swinging set of ‘symphonic jazz’, Steve Richman and the Harmonie Ensemble/New York recreate the original orchestrations made by Ferde Grofé for the Paul Whiteman Orchestra. The programme features Gershwin’s immortal Rhapsody in Blue (with soloist Lincoln Mayorga and legendary reedman Al Gallodoro), the I Got Rhythm Variations, and a selection of George’s Broadway tunes, including Summertime in a beautiful reading by Al and Lincoln. Not to be missed is the acoustic (!) version of The Yankee Doodle Blues which the HE/NY recorded on a wax cylinder using a 1909 Edison Fireside phonograph.

“Richman’s spot-on sense of pacing, balance and emphasis guarantee that every Grofé-conjured utterance receives discerning and shapely animation. The ensemble and solo playing likely would bowl over both the composer and Whiteman.” Gramophone

Broadway musicals and jazz belong to the cultural heritage of America. But people thought differently in George Gershwin's day - the 1920s and 30s. Broadway shows were immensely popular, but were rarely considered as art. Jazz was a subculture secretly appreciated by many white Americans, but in the same way as they liked to see wild animals at the circus - at a safe distance. It had yet to be realised that amusement music was a unique and characteristic part of American culture. “American music is not jazz, and jazz is not music”, wrote the influential music critic Paul Rosenfeld in 1929. Precisely what, then, was American music? George Gershwin (1898-1937) was one of the first to show the world. (from: liner notes)

After recordings of English Renaissance and German romantic music, and twentieth- century works from France, The Gents venture across the ocean to the new world, with a CD that takes them to Broadway. Jetse Bremer has specially arranged the last compositions by George Gershwin for this combination of soloist, choir and instruments and the flexibility and homogeneous sound of The Gents matches these songs so well. For the singers of The Gents and soprano Johannette Zomer, with their classical background, this repertoire is a special challenge, raising the question where classical stops or changes into something else....

This collection includes pieces from “Gershwin at the Keyboard” (Originally called George Gershwin’s Songbook), as well as some of his piano preludes. Containing some of the composer’s most popular songs from shows and musicals, we have favourites such as Fascinating Rhythm, The Man I Love and ‘S Wonderful. Waagaard is an Associate Professor at the Norwegian Academy of Music.