MelloMacs Go Gershwin

It's September, and the delightfully talented and musical MelloMacs are back! This mixed choir of Portland's Multnomah Athletic Club meets weekly to put together musical entertainments that are shared all over the Portland community. This season the group will feature a brand new show filled with Gershwin favorites. It's hard to go wrong with Gershwin; these are some of the best-loved songs of the American songbook.

Later this month, on Sept. 26th, we will all celebrate George Gershwin's birthday. A bright light of the Jazz Age and the golden days of Broadway in the Twenties, Gershwin's use of the Jazz idiom infused the American spirit into his compositions.  So many of his songs have become beloved standards in the American songbook; they are rediscovered and enjoyed by each generation of artists and audiences.  His larger works like Rhapsody in Blue, Concerto in F, and An American in Paris are a tribute to his orchestral abilities and innovations.  His biggest masterpiece may be his folk opera, Porgy and Bess.  So much great music from this American original.  I look forward to the MelloMacs and their new musical tribute to this American legend.  And I will enjoy playing many of his songs at the Portland City Grill, as I celebrate one of my greatest musical inspirations, George Gershwin.