The Architect of the American Sound: George Gershwin

2026-03-09

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Send a textHe was a high school dropout from Brooklyn who became the king of Broadway and the darling of Paris. This week on Musical Lyrical Lingo, we are stepping away from the stage door to look at the man who gave the American Musical its heartbeat: George Gershwin.From his "accidental" start at the piano to his legendary (and often hilarious) partnership with his brother Ira, we explore how one man bridged the gap between the street and the symphony. Why does "Summertime" still haunt us 90 years later? And what can a song...

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He was a high school dropout from Brooklyn who became the king of Broadway and the darling of Paris. This week on Musical Lyrical Lingo, we are stepping away from the stage door to look at the man who gave the American Musical its heartbeat: George Gershwin.

From his "accidental" start at the piano to his legendary (and often hilarious) partnership with his brother Ira, we explore how one man bridged the gap between the street and the symphony. Why does "Summertime" still haunt us 90 years later? And what can a song about "sipping tea" teach us about the power of memory?

In this episode, we dive into:

The "Song Plugger" to Superstar: George's meteoric rise and why he was famously the life of every party (as long as there was a piano).
The "Jeweller" of Lyrics: A tribute to Ira Gershwin and the witty, sophisticated "Lingo" that reinvented the English language.
The Great Crossover: How Porgy and Bess and Rhapsody in Blue proved that Jazz was high art.
Lyric of the Week: Why "They Can’t Take That Away From Me" is the ultimate lesson in emotional sovereignty.

"Life is a lot like jazz... It's best when you improvise."

End of MLL

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