Results for "Irving Berlin"

Irving Berlin

Born: May 11, 1888

Irving Berlin (1888–1989) was a Russian-born American songwriter, widely regarded as one of the greatest in history. Born Israel Beilin in Belarus, he immigrated to the U.S. as a child, growing up in New York City. With little formal education, Berlin was largely self-taught in music, relying on his natural ear for melody.

He composed over 1,500 songs, including timeless standards like "White Christmas," "God Bless America," "Puttin' on the Ritz," and "There's No Business Like Show Business." His work spanned Broadway, Hollywood, and popular music, shaping American culture through the early 20th century. Berlin wrote both lyrics and music, a rarity among songwriters, and his songs were performed by stars like Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, and Ethel Merman.

The 1930s: Soup Kitchens, Shirley Temple and Swing

by Joan Merrill
June 2, 2026

Just as the 1920s were defined by the Jazz Age, the 1930s were also defined by swing, the popular music of the time. Jazz had become danceable. But as America swung through the decade, the country endured two horrendous disasters: the Great Depression that followed the stock market crash of 1929, and the Dust ...

Interruptions On A Christmas Eve

by Arthur R George
December 24, 2025

The small restaurant and occasional music bistro was closed for Christmas Eve. Its owner Ernie DiVitale had darkened the room. There was light enough, from the Christmas tree in the corner and spilling in from a lamp over the prep area in the kitchen, to relax with his wife Veronica at a back table over cappuccini ...

Have A Holly, Jazzy Christmas

by Kurt Ellenberger
December 21, 2025

In my music history classes, particularly in November and December, students have often asked me about the relationship between jazz and Christmas: “Why are so many popular Christmas songs so jazzy?" It is a good question--indeed, many of the most popular secular Christmas music does have a jazz flavor, while a few are actually jazz. There ...

Goldings/Bernstein/Stewart at SMOKE

by Chris DeRosa
October 30, 2025

Goldings/Bernstein/Stewart Smoke Jazz & Supper Club New York, NY October 23, 2025 Hello, my name is Chris DeRosa and this is what I heard... Tonight's festivities took place at the uptown New York City venue Smoke Jazz & Supper Club. The offering this evening was the organ trio ...

Trio and Quintet

by C. Michael Bailey
August 23, 2025

Pianist and composer Elmo Hope has more in common with Tadd Dameron than most of his other jazz peers. Both men were primarily composers and arrangers who concentrated on their own music rather than standards. Both men spent their professional lives in New York City during the twilight of bebop and the flourishing of hard bop. ...

Interpreting The Lennon/Mccartney Songbook: Part 1, Early Songs

by Larry Slater
June 27, 2025

Since its earliest days, Jazz musicians have used popular songs as springboards for creative interpretation, reimagining these tunes through the art of improvisation.. The great American songbooks of Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, and George Gershwin, have long been a staple of the jazz repertoire. Do John Lennon and Paul McCartney belong in this exalted company? I ...

Stephanie Nakasian at the Attucks Jazz Club and Congregation Beth El

by Mark Robbins
March 29, 2025

Stephanie Nakasian did not start out as a vocalist. Majoring in economics at Northwestern University, she received her BA and MBA, then entered the world of financial consulting for major banks in New York City and Chicago. Growing more and more dissatisfied with her career, she decided in 1981 to leap into the world of music, ...

Amber Weekes: A Lady With a Song

by Katchie Cartwright
March 20, 2025

Irving Berlin wrote “Suppertime" (aka “Supper Time") for As Thousands Cheer (1933), a topical revue with several stars and many musical numbers. Ethel Waters introduced it, making history as the first African American woman to star on Broadway. Berlin wrote it specifically for Waters, who also sang his lighthearted “Heat Wave" in the show.

Gravity and Resurgence: The Many Dimensions of Dexter Gordon

by Arthur R George
February 6, 2025

Long Tall Dexter; swinger, bebopper, saxophone balladeer; acting the dissipated genius expatriate who was not unlike himself in the movie Round Midnight; his dressed-up persona “Society Red;" the laconic elder statesman of his later years. Dexter Gordon is all those things, but more than a kaleidoscope of caricatures. Those who trace their lineages through ...