Description

What You Get

Join Michael Feinstein on a musical journey across the country and through time. These DVD or Blu-ray sets of the award-winning series Michael Feinstein’s American Songbook are a music lover’s treasure chest. For each of the three seasons (airing on PBS from 2010-2013) this deluxe set offers two discs. Disc One includes all three episodes of Season One, Season Two, or Season Three. Disc Two offers an evening’s worth of bonus material: complete musical numbers performed by Michael Feinstein himself; plus pristinely restored archival performances by legends such as Rosemary Clooney, Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Lena Horne, Judy Garland, Duke Ellington, Peggy Lee, Bobby Short, and many more. The New York Times recommended this DVD/Blu-ray set as a holiday must-have. Scroll down to check out the complete list of episodes and bonus performances.

• Format: DVD, Color, TV Tie-In, Deluxe Edition
• Director: Amber Edwards
• Producers: Amber Edwards, Dave Davidson, Hudson West Productions

The Series

Michael Feinstein’s American Songbook takes viewers on an expedition through the glorious history of 20th Century popular music. We follow Feinstein on stage as he performs familiar standards and little-known gems. Then, we peek behind-the-scenes into the surprises and challenges of life on the road. Because even with a private plane, it’s not easy doing 150+ shows a year!

Amazingly, Michael also finds the time to amass and maintain a vast personal collection of music, recordings, and memorabilia. And much of the material was acquired from show business legends who he’s known personally. Although, Feinstein admits, if he weren’t such a busy entertainer, he’d spend all his time collecting. Thus, we see him combing through flea markets, basements, attics, even storage lockers. It’s all part of Feinstein’s lifelong mission to find and preserve the treasures of classic American popular music. Rare archival audio and film footage thread through each episode. Michael Feinstein’s American Songbook offers a close-up portrait of a unique entertainer as well as an illuminating cultural history of the American Century.

Stephen Holden of The New York Times called the series “a quirky, thoughtful mélange of history and biography.” It received two nominations for the International Documentary Association Awards. And it won the ASCAP Deems Taylor Broadcasting Award.

Season One (Preview)

1) Putting on the Tailfins

In the 1950s and ‘60s, the Great American Songbook had to compete with new forms like rock ‘n’ roll and rhythm & blues. But iconic singers like Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole and Rosemary Clooney kept the Songbook alive. They reinvented the pop standards of the 1930s and ‘40s with big swinging arrangements. (Think Nelson Riddle and Billy May.) And Michael Feinstein continues that tradition, with his own new interpretations of the classics.

Best Band in the Land
During World War II, popular music provided emotional solace and patriotic inspiration. Michael Feinstein shows us how the American Songbook became the soundtrack of “the Greatest Generation.” For the troops, there were military big bands, USO shows, and V-disks to keep them entertained. On the home front, radio programs, movies, and and war bond rallies united the country in a common cause. Guest appearances by Margaret Whiting and Marvin Hamlisch.

A New Step Every Day
Back in the 1920s and ‘30s, credit was loose, illegal booze flowed freely in underground speakeasies, and jazz was smoking hot.  Silent films evolved into “talking pictures.” Radios replaced the parlor piano as the center of home entertainment. And “the devil’s music” spread like wildfire, whether performed live in swanky nightclubs, or captured on 78 rpm records. Michael Feinstein introduces us to some of the collectors and musicians who keep the the Jazz Age alive today. Guest appearances by Vince Giordano and Joe Franklin.