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Russell Davies

Music: Easy Listening, Soundtracks & Musicals

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Russell Davies celebrates the art, craft and inspiration of the popular song

Russell Davies: 03/04/2011

Music: Jazz & Blues

03/04/2011

BBC Radio 4 Extra - Russell Davies, 03/04/2011

Russell pays tribute to Hugh Martin and celebrates the birthday of Doris Day.

Russell Davies celebrates the art, craft and inspiration of the popular song. He pays tribute to Hugh Martin and celebrates the birthday of Doris Day.

This week we pay tribute to songwriter Hugh Martin, who died recently at 96 years old. Russell reminds us of his collaborations with Ralph Blane in such movies as Meet Me in St Louis. We hear Judy Garland's The Trolley Song and, in Jo Stafford's version, The Boy Next Door. We also hear Hugh Martin himself, in duet with Michael Feinstein (The Two of Us). 

Doris Day's birthday is celebrated with a very rare performance (from a radio airshot) of Miss Day singing with the Barney Rapp orchestra I'm Happy About the Whole Thing - a forgotten Johnny Mercer/Harry Warren opus. 

A famous 50-year-old recording studio meeting between Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong is recalled, along with Bunny Berigan's I Can't Get Started. Russell charts the progress of this classic recording to the point when it was accepted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Returning to Hugh Martin, Russell finds a song which has parallels with a more famous Cole - Porter. Russell then reflects on his own upcoming 'big birthday' with a very old Bessie Smith song, reprised by Carrie Smith at Carnegie Hall. And this leads to another, more celebratory, Carnegie performance by Judy Garland and piano virtuoso Jose Iturbi.

Amazing music. Played by an amazing line up.

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Russell Davies

03/04/2011

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