George and Ira Gershwin: Homeward Bound

George and Ira Gershwin: Homeward Bound

The 1927 musical Strike Up the Band was a flop, but it contained some of George and Ira Gershwin’s best songs.  One of the lesser-known ones was “Homeward Bound”, sung by soldier boys at the end of a fictitious war in a satirical story. I am inordinately...
Gershwin:  Hi-Ho!

Gershwin: Hi-Ho!

No sooner has the hurly-burly of the New York season ended than the summer season creeps up from behind, screaming for attention. I just ran a musical marathon that ended with four huge projects in the space of five weeks (in three cities). But pretty soon I’ll be off...
George and Ira Gershwin:  Slap That Bass

George and Ira Gershwin: Slap That Bass

As I deal with the current dystopia I encounter every morning on NPR, I keep thinking about the song “Slap That Bass” by the Gershwin brothers. “Dictators would be better off if they zoom-zoomed now and then,” they write. I couldn’t agree more. “Zoom zoom, zoom zoom,...