In this hour of The Blues & Beyond we focus on a great American composer. Classical music originated and Europe, but it took an American composer to put a little blues into the mix. George Gershwin, who died at age thirty-eight, did just that with "Rhapsody In Blue" and his opera "Porgy and Bess," and many other works, that have timeless appeal and continue to be reinterpretted and recast in this century. On this program we'll hear two new, 2011, versions of "Rhapsody In Blue," one from a newfangled big band, Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band, and another on solo piano, from Eldar Djangirov - - as well as perhaps the most classic version of the song "Summertime" from the original Broadway show of Porgy and Bess, with soprano Anne Brown, whose singing inspired Gershwin to develop the role of Bess into something larger than he had originally planned. With artists ranging from Count Basie's Kansas City Five to singer Oscar Brown, Jr., to present-day piano phenom Hiromi Uehara, we'll celebrate the music of George Gershwin, in this hour of The Blues & Beyond.

promo included: promo270

In this hour of The Blues & Beyond we focus on a great American composer. Classical music originated and Europe, but it took an American composer to put a little blues into the mix. George Gershwin, who died at age thirty-eight, did just that with "Rhapsody In Blue" and his opera "Porgy and Bess," and many other works, that have timeless appeal and continue to be reinterpretted and recast in this century. On this program we'll hear two new, 2011, versions of "Rhapsody In Blue," one from a newfangled big band, Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band, and another on solo piano, from Eldar Djangirov - - as well as perhaps the most classic version of the song "Summertime" from the original Broadway show of Porgy and Bess, with soprano Anne Brown, whose singing inspired Gershwin to develop the role of Bess into something larger than he had originally planned. With artists ranging from Count Basie's Kansas City Five to singer Oscar Brown, Jr., to present-day piano phenom Hiromi Uehara, we'll celebrate the music of George Gershwin, in this hour of The Blues & Beyond.

promo included: promo270