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91-594: Michael Feinstein founded the organization in 2007. Upon Feinstein's appointment as artistic director of the Center for the Performing Arts in 2009, the organization made a commitment to place its headquarters and archives on the center's campus in Carmel, Indiana. The Great American Songbook Foundation's administrative headquarters houses a reference library, study and listening rooms for researchers, archival storage space, and

182-570: A bicycle chain factory, and in a slaughterhouse . This bleak time was partially relieved by piano duets with his mother and by his friendship with DuValle, who taught him piano- jazz improvisation . Carmichael earned $ 5 playing at a fraternity dance in 1918, marking the beginning of his professional musical career. The death of Carmichael's three-year-old sister in 1918 (possibly from the Spanish flu pandemic ) affected him deeply. He later wrote "My sister Joanne—the victim of poverty. We couldn't afford

273-412: A cornetist and sometime pianist from Iowa . The two became friends and played music together. Around 1923, during a visit to Chicago, Beiderbecke introduced Carmichael to Louis Armstrong , with whom Carmichael would later collaborate, while Armstrong was playing with Chicago-based King Oliver 's Creole Jazz Band. Armstrong would continue to influence Carmichael's compositions; Carmichael reflected in

364-515: A legal clerk in a West Palm Beach legal firm, but he returned to Indiana in 1927 after failing the Florida bar exam . He joined an Indianapolis law firm (Bingham, Mendenhall and Bingham) and passed the Indiana bar, but devoted most of his energies to music. Carmichael had discovered his method of songwriting, which he described later: "You don't write melodies, you find them…If you find the beginning of

455-495: A Change of Heart". On October 31, 2014, Feinstein's Michael Feinstein at the Rainbow Room premiered on PBS, with guest stars. The special is part of the 2014 PBS Arts Fall Festival, a primetime program with 11 weekly programs of classic Broadway hits and music as well as some award-winning theater performances. Feinstein has appeared numerous times as a presenter on Turner Classic Movies. After cohosting with Robert Osborne for

546-529: A Cranky Old Yank" was listed in the 1967 edition of the Guinness Book of Records under the title "I'm a Cranky Old Yank in a Clanky Old Tank on the Streets of Yokohama with My Honolulu Mama Doin' Those Beat-o, Beat-o Flat-On-My-Seat-o, Hirohito Blues" as the longest song title. Carmichael appeared as an actor in 14 motion pictures, performing at least one of his songs in each. He described his on-screen persona as

637-600: A brokerage firm during the weekdays and spent his evenings composing music, including some songs for Hollywood musicals. In New York, Carmichael met Duke Ellington 's agent and sheet music publisher, Irving Mills , and hired him to set up recording dates. Carmichael's first major song with his own lyrics was " Rockin' Chair ," recorded by Louis Armstrong and Mildred Bailey , and eventually with his own hand-picked studio band (featuring Beiderbecke, Bubber Miley , Benny Goodman , Tommy Dorsey , Bud Freeman , Eddie Lang , Joe Venuti , and Gene Krupa ) on May 21, 1930. After

728-534: A cabaret performer parodied in the third season of Mystery Science Theater 3000 , which covered the Kaiju movie Gamera vs. Guiron . At the episode's close, Feinstein, played by the show's head writer Michael J. Nelson , sang a cabaret version of the Gamera theme song to the characters Dr. Clayton Forrester and TV's Frank . In the early 1990s, Feinstein embarked on a songbook project where he performed an album featuring

819-531: A character actor in Hollywood. His on-screen debut occurred in 1937 in Topper , with Cary Grant and Constance Bennett . Carmichael portrayed a piano player and performed his song "Old Man Moon" in the film. The effort led to other character actor roles in the 1940s. Carmichael also continued to write individual songs. His song "Chimes of Indiana" was presented to Indiana University, Carmichael's alma mater, in 1937 as

910-540: A close. Carmichael took up other interests in retirement, including golf, coin collecting, and enjoying his two homes, one on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles and the other in Rancho Mirage, California . As he passed his 70th birthday, Carmichael's star continued to wane and was nearly forgotten in a world dominated by rock music. With the help and encouragement of his son, Hoagy Bix Carmichael, Carmichael participated in

1001-471: A division of Warner Brothers , establishing his connection with Hollywood . "Moonburn," the first song Carmichael wrote for a motion picture, was sung by Bing Crosby in Paramount Pictures’ film Anything Goes in 1936. Following his marriage to Ruth Mary Meinardi, the daughter of a Presbyterian minister, on March 14, 1936, the couple moved to California, where Carmichael hoped to find more work in

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1092-536: A dozen Hollywood films, including his performances in classic films such as To Have and Have Not and The Best Years of Our Lives . Among the hundreds of Carmichael's published songs, "Stardust" is one of the most frequently recorded. Carmichael's greatest strength was as a melodist, but he also became known as an "experimental" and "innovative" songwriter, whose "catchy, often jazz-infused, melodies" and "nostalgic, down-home lyrics" were memorable and had wide public appeal, especially with mass media promotion and through

1183-514: A friendship lasting until Clooney's death. Feinstein served as musical consultant for the 1983 Broadway show My One and Only , a musical pastiche of Gershwin tunes. By the mid-1980s, Feinstein was a nationally known cabaret singer-pianist famed for being a proponent of the Great American Songbook . In 1986, he recorded his first CD, Pure Gershwin (1987), a collection of music by George and Ira Gershwin. He followed this with Live at

1274-535: A gift from the class of 1935. In 1938, Carmichael collaborated with Paramount lyricist Frank Loesser on " Heart and Soul ," " Two Sleepy People ," and " Small Fry. " "Heart and Soul" was included in Paramount's motion picture A Song Is Born (1938), performed by Larry Clinton and his orchestra. (After 1950, a simpler version became a popular piano duet among American children.) Dick Powell premiered Carmichael's " I Get Along Without You Very Well (Except Sometimes) " in

1365-486: A good doctor or good attention, and that's when I vowed I would never be broke again in my lifetime." Carmichael attended Indiana University Bloomington , where he earned a bachelor's degree in 1925 and a law degree in 1926. He was a member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity, and played the piano around Indiana and Ohio with his band, Carmichael's Collegians. Around 1922, Carmichael first met Leon "Bix" Beiderbecke ,

1456-625: A good song, and if your fingers do not stray, the melody should come out of hiding in a short time." Carmichael composed several hundred songs, including fifty that achieved hit-record status during his long career. In his early days as a songwriter in Indiana (1924–1929), he wrote and performed in the hot jazz improvisational style, popular with jazz dance bands. While he was living in New York City (1929–1936), he wrote songs that were intended to stand alone, independent of any other production, such as

1547-515: A hell of a lot more... I could write anything any time I wanted to. But I let other things get in the way.... I've been floating around in the breeze." He spent his final years at home in Rancho Mirage , near Palm Springs, California , where he continued to play golf and remained an avid coin collector. Shortly before his death in 1981, Carmichael appeared on a United Kingdom-recorded tribute album, In Hoagland (1981), with Annie Ross and Georgie Fame . Carmichael sang and played "Rockin' Chair" on

1638-595: A jazz staple. ( Mitchell Parish 's lyrics were added in 1939.) Carmichael's other early musical compositions included " Washboard Blues " and "Boneyard Shuffle," which Curtis Hitch and his band, Hitch's Happy Harmonists, recorded at the Gennett studios. The band's instrumental rendition of "Washboard Blues," recorded on May 19, 1925, was the earliest recording in which Carmichael performed his own songs, including an improvised piano solo. After graduating from IU's law school in 1926, Carmichael moved to Florida, where he worked as

1729-612: A letter to his wife in the early 1930s that he was going to see Armstrong to learn about the "purty notes." Under Beiderbecke's influence, Carmichael began playing the cornet but found his lips unsuited to the mouthpiece and soon stopped. He was also inspired by Beiderbecke's impressionistic and classical music ideas. Carmichael's first recorded song, initially titled "Free Wheeling," was written for Beiderbecke, whose band, The Wolverines , recorded it as " Riverboat Shuffle " in 1924 for Gennett Records in Richmond, Indiana . The song became

1820-545: A national radio broadcast in 1938. "Little Old Lady," included in The Show Is On (1936), was Carmichael's first song to appear in a Broadway musical and became a hit, but Carmichael's score for the Broadway production Walk with Music , which he did with Mercer, was unsuccessful. The musical opened in 1940 and ran for only three weeks, producing no hit songs. Carmichael never attempted another musical, resuming his career as

1911-619: A night in January 2015, he returned to the channel as a guest host in August 2016 and December 2017. In October 2008, Feinstein married his longtime partner Terrence Flannery. The ceremony was performed by family court and television judge Judith Sheindlin , also known as Judge Judy . Feinstein and Flannery have homes in New York, Los Angeles, and Indiana. Hoagy Carmichael Hoagland Howard Carmichael (November 22, 1899 – December 27, 1981)

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2002-451: A pop standard, especially after World War II . Carmichael also arranged and recorded " Up a Lazy River " in 1930, a tune by Sidney Arodin . Although Carmichael and the band he assembled had first recorded "Stardust" as an instrumental in 1927, Bing Crosby recorded the tune with Mitchell Parish's lyrics in 1931. Carmichael joined ASCAP in 1931. The following year he began working as a songwriter for Ralph Peer 's Southern Music Company,

2093-588: A sales executive for the Sara Lee Corporation and a former amateur singer. He is Jewish. At the age of 5, he studied piano for a couple of months until his teacher became angered that he was not reading the sheet music she gave him, since he was more comfortable playing by ear. As his mother saw no problem with her son's method, she took him out of lessons and allowed him to enjoy music his own way. After graduating from high school, Feinstein worked in local piano bars for two years, moving to Los Angeles when he

2184-732: A sentimental ballad with a slower tempo, the re-timing often credited to the band's arranger, Victor Young . It became a hit song, the first of many for Carmichael. Its idiosyncratic melody in medium tempo–a song about a song–later became a standard of the Great American Songbook , recorded by hundreds of artists, including Artie Shaw , Nat King Cole , Ella Fitzgerald , Frank Sinatra , Willie Nelson , and Wynton Marsalis . Carmichael received more recognition after Paul Whiteman and his orchestra recorded " Washboard Blues " on Victor Records in Chicago in November 1927, with Carmichael singing and playing

2275-458: A singer-songwriter and character actor in Hollywood. The growing Carmichael family, which included Hoagy, Ruth, and their sons, Hoagy Bix (born in 1938) and Randy Bob (born in 1940), moved into the former mansion of chewing-gum heir William P. Wrigley, Jr. in Los Angeles in 1942, when the United States entered World War II after the attack on Pearl Harbor . His contribution to the war effort

2366-429: A summer replacement series for Your Show of Shows . He was also a regular cast member in the first season of NBC's western TV series Laramie (1959–63), playing the character role of Jonesy the ranch hand. As his songwriting career started to fade, Carmichael's marriage also dissolved. He and his wife Ruth divorced in 1955. The Johnny Appleseed Suite , Carmichael's second classical work for orchestra, suffered

2457-588: A theatrical performance or a motion picture. Carmichael's songs from this period continued to include jazz influences. During his later years in California (1936–1981), his songs were predominately instrumentals . Nearly four dozen were written expressly for, or were incorporated into, motion pictures. Carmichael made hundreds of recordings between 1925 and his death in 1981. He also appeared on radio and television and in motion pictures and live performances, where he demonstrated his versatility. Because Carmichael lacked

2548-569: Is "Ella Sings the Songbook", celebrating Ella Fitzgerald 's 100th birthday and commemorating her more than fifty-year career, much of which was spent performing music from the Great American Songbook. In particular, the exhibit highlights the series of eight albums of Songbook music sung by Ella under the direction of Norman Granz and issued by Verve Records . These exhibits focus on different time periods, styles, and artists. In addition to

2639-609: Is "the only vocal competition based solely on music from Broadway, Hollywood musicals and the Tin Pan Alley era." Recent Songbook Academy finalists have performed in major venues in Las Vegas, Pasadena, New York City, Costa Mesa, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco. In June 2016, Maddie Baillio was cast as Tracy Turnblad in NBC's production of Hairspray Live! . Great American Songbook Youth Ambassadors: The Great American Songbook Hall of Fame

2730-489: Is a tribute to people who have contributed to the genre, memorializing composers, performers, and lyricists who have added to the history of the Songbook. Artists are nominated and selected based on the following criteria: Each year, the Center for the Performing Arts hosts the Songbook Celebration Gala, a black-tie event that celebrates the lives and careers of the artists who have been selected for induction into

2821-406: Is best known for composing four of the most-recorded American songs of all time: " Stardust " (lyrics by Mitchell Parish ), " Georgia on My Mind " (lyrics by Stuart Gorrell ), " The Nearness of You " (lyrics by Ned Washington ), and " Heart and Soul " (lyrics by Frank Loesser ). He also collaborated with lyricist Johnny Mercer on " Lazybones " and " Skylark ." Carmichael's " Ole Buttermilk Sky "

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2912-525: Is not known which of the orchestra's musicians were at the October 31 session when "Star Dust" was initially recorded. New York's Mills Music published the song as an upbeat piano solo in January 1929 and renamed it "Stardust." (Mills Music republished the song with the addition of Mitchell Parish's lyrics in May 1929.) "Stardust" attracted little attention until 1930, when Isham Jones and his orchestra recorded it as

3003-495: Is so delightfully awful that it is really funny." During the 1950s, the public's musical preferences shifted toward rhythm and blues and rock and roll, ending the careers of most older artists. Carmichael's songwriting career also slowed down, but he continued to perform. In the early 1950s, variety shows were particularly popular on television. Carmichael's most notable appearance was as the host of Saturday Night Review in June 1953,

3094-645: The 1964 United States presidential election . Carmichael married Wanda McKay in 1977. He died of a heart attack at the Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, California , on December 27, 1981, at age 82. His remains are buried in Rose Hill Cemetery in Bloomington, Indiana . Carmichael is considered to be among the most successful of the Tin Pan Alley songwriters of the 1930s, and he

3185-553: The Library of Congress appointed Feinstein to the National Recording Preservation Board , an organization dedicated to safeguarding America's musical heritage. In 2008, The Great American Songbook Foundation , founded by Feinstein, located its headquarters in Carmel, Indiana. The foundation's mission includes the preservation, research, and exhibition of the physical artifacts, both published and non-published, of

3276-560: The National Blues Museum in St. Louis, MO. The relationship will allow collaboration between the organizations on exhibits and educational and research programs, among other amenities. Founded in 2015, the Foundation's Perfect Harmony program offers music experiences to people with Alzheimer's, dementia and other neurodegenerative diseases. This new program was launched in collaboration with

3367-772: The National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress in 2004. Carmichael was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame on February 8, 1960. (His sidewalk star tribute is located at 1720 Vine Street in Hollywood.) In 1971 Carmichael was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame as one of its initial ten inductees. In 2007 Carmichael was inducted into the Gennett Records Walk of Fame in Richmond, Indiana. Bronze and ceramic medallions, one for each of

3458-488: The October 1929 stock market crash , Carmichael's hard-earned savings declined substantially. Fortunately, Louis Armstrong had recorded " Rockin' Chair " at Okeh studios in 1929, giving Carmichael a badly needed financial and career boost. The song became one of Carmichael's jazz standards. Carmichael composed and recorded " Georgia on My Mind " (lyrics by Stuart Gorrell ) in 1930. The song became another jazz staple, as well as

3549-471: The PBS television show Hoagy Carmichael's Music Shop , which featured jazz-rock versions of his hits by Stark Reality . He appeared on Fred Rogers 's PBS show Old Friends, New Friends in 1978. With more time on his hands, Carmichael resumed painting, and after a long courtship he married Dorothy Wanda McKay , an actress, in 1977. Carmichael received several honors from the music industry in his later years. He

3640-981: The Pasadena POPS in 2012 and made his conducting debut in June 2013. In 2016, Feinstein's contract with the Pasadena POPS was extended through 2019. Feinstein's memoir The Gershwins and Me: A Personal History in Twelve Songs about working for Ira Gershwin was published in Fall 2012, accompanied by a CD of Feinstein's performing the Gershwin brothers' music discussed in the book. In April 2013, Feinstein released Change Of Heart: The Songs of André Previn , (Concord) in collaboration with composer-conductor-pianist André Previn , with an album celebrating Previn's repertoire from his catalog of pop songs that have most commonly been featured in motion pictures. The album opens with "(You've Had)

3731-423: The "hound-dog-faced old musical philosopher noodling on the honky-tonk piano, saying to a tart with a heart of gold: 'He'll be back, honey. He's all man.'" In 1944 Carmichael played Cricket in the screen adaptation of Ernest Hemingway 's To Have and Have Not , opposite Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall . He sang " Hong Kong Blues " and "The Rhumba Jumps," and played piano as Bacall sang "How Little We Know." In

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3822-490: The $ 170-million, three-theater venue was completed in January 2011. The center is home to an annual international arts festival, diverse live programming, and The Great American Songbook Foundation. In 2009, Feinstein teamed with Cheyenne Jackson to create a nightclub act titled "The Power of Two". The show was hailed by The New York Times as "passionate", "impeccably harmonized" and "groundbreaking". Variety acclaimed it as "dazzlingly entertaining". Their act became one of

3913-646: The 1951 Academy Award -winner for best song, "In the Cool, Cool, Cool, of the Evening." Carmichael also began to emerge as a solo singer-performer, first at parties, then professionally. He described his unique, laconic voice as sounding "the way a shaggy dog looks... I have Wabash fog and sycamore twigs in my throat." Some fans were dismayed as he steadily veered away from "hot" jazz, but Armstrong's recordings continued to "jazz up" Carmichael's popular songs. In 1935 Carmichael left Southern Music Company and began composing songs for

4004-744: The Algonquin (1986); Remember: Michael Feinstein Sings Irving Berlin (1987); Isn't It Romantic (1988), a collection of standards and his first album backed by an orchestra; and Over There (1989), featuring the music of America and Europe during the First World War. Feinstein recorded Pure Imagination , his only children's album, in 1992. In the 1987 episode "But Not for Me" of the TV series thirtysomething , he sang " But Not for Me ", " Love Is Here to Stay " and Isn't It Romantic? . By 1988, Feinstein

4095-578: The Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening," which was featured in the 1951 film Here Comes the Groom . "Ole Buttermilk Sky" received an Oscar nomination for Best Music, Song, of 1946, but it was not the winner. Carmichael's recording of " Star Dust " in 1927 at the Gennett Records studio that includes him playing the piano solo was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame . In addition, it was selected for inclusion in

4186-1072: The Great American Songbook Hall of Fame. Nominees (or their representatives, in the case of posthumous award winners) are invited to Carmel where they are honored with tribute performances celebrating their achievements. Tribute performers at past Songbook Celebration Gala events include Jimmy Smits , Andrea McArdle , Jessica Sanchez , Laura Osnes , Karen Ziemba , Chris Mann , and Kristin Chenoweth . Great American Songbook Hall of Fame Inductees include Alan & Marilyn Bergman , Barry Manilow , and Cole Porter (2012); Liza Minnelli , Rita Moreno , Frank Sinatra , and Jimmy Webb (2013); Nat King Cole , Shirley Jones , Johnny Mathis , and Linda Ronstadt (2014); George & Ira Gershwin , Chita Rivera , and Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gormé (2015); and Hoagy Carmichael , Diahann Carroll , and Dionne Warwick (2016). The 2017 class, consisting of Ella Fitzgerald , Mitzi Gaynor , and Ray Gilbert ,

4277-400: The Great American Songbook and educating today's youth about the music's relevance to their lives. The foundation houses an archive and reference library; plans exist for a free-standing museum. The organization also holds an annual Great American Songbook Vocal Academy and Competition that invites high school students to compete in regional competitions; Feinstein has been a judge and mentor for

4368-563: The Greater Indiana Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association . During the science-based Perfect Harmony program, participants and caregivers are involved in social singing with Songbook music. As a group, people share experiences related to memorable songs and the monthly theme. The Great American Songbook Foundation partnered with Indianapolis-based Heartland Film and the Center for the Performing Arts to present classic movie musicals to

4459-588: The Songbook Exhibit Gallery, an exhibit space featuring rotating interactive presentations about the music, its creators and the performers of the Great American Songbook. The Songbook Exhibit Gallery features rotating exhibits. These exhibits helps guests to place the music of this era in context with the events that occurred in the 20th-century United States. The Songbook Foundation offers corresponding educational programs and guided tours for school groups, civic and professional organizations, and members of

4550-729: The United Kingdom at the London Casino in 1948. According to his son Randy, Carmichael was an incessant composer, working on a song for days or even weeks until it was perfect. His perfectionism extended to his clothes, grooming, and eating. Once the work was done, however, Carmichael would cut loose—relax, play golf, drink, and indulge in the Hollywood high life. Carmichael also found time to write his first autobiography, The Stardust Road , published in 1946. In addition, Carmichael composed an orchestral work, Brown County in Autumn , in 1948, but it

4641-443: The concert later that summer. "Piano Pedal Rag," a new Carmichael tune, was performed during the concert. Carmichael told host Crosby that he wrote it because he admired Beiderbecke's writing "so much that I didn't want to stop until I wrote something that was a little bit like something Bix might have liked." On his 80th birthday, Carmichael was reflective, observing, "I'm a bit disappointed in myself. I know I could have accomplished

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4732-509: The efforts of numerous entertainers who performed his songs. In 1986, Carmichael's family donated his archives, piano, and memorabilia to his alma mater, Indiana University, which established a Hoagy Carmichael Collection in its Archives of Traditional Music and the Hoagy Carmichael Room to permanently display selections from the collection. Carmichael and lyricist Johnny Mercer received an Academy Award for Best Music, Song, for "In

4823-1010: The family moved frequently. Hoagy lived most of his early years in Bloomington and Indianapolis , Indiana. In 1910, the Carmichaels moved to Missoula, Montana . Carmichael's mother taught him to sing and play the piano at an early age. With the exception of some piano lessons in Indianapolis with Reginald DuValle , a bandleader and pianist known as "the elder statesman of Indiana jazz" and billed as "the Rhythm King," Carmichael had no other musical training. The family moved to Indianapolis in 1916, but Carmichael returned to Bloomington in 1919 to complete high school. For musical inspiration, Carmichael would listen to ragtime pianists Hank Wells and Hube Hanna. At 18, Carmichael helped supplement his family's meager income by doing manual jobs in construction, at

4914-410: The film industry. In 1937, the year before the birth of the couple's first son, Hoaglund Jr. (Hoagy Bix), Carmichael accepted a contract with Paramount Pictures for $ 1,000 a week, joining other songwriters working for the Hollywood studios, including Harry Warren at Warner Brothers, E. Y. Harburg at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer , and Ralph Rainger and Leo Robin at Paramount. Carmichael found work as

5005-459: The film, including "Ole Buttermilk Sky," an Academy Award nominee. Carmichael's career as a recording artist peaked in the mid-1940s when he recorded exclusively for Decca Records and V-Disc (the Armed Forces label for service personnel overseas), acted and performed in motion pictures, and hosted variety shows on the radio. He also sang in live shows across the United States, and debuted in

5096-545: The first music firm to occupy the new Brill Building , which became a famous New York songwriting mecca. The Great Depression rapidly put an end to the jazz scene of the Roaring Twenties . People were no longer attending clubs or buying music, forcing many musicians out of work. Carmichael was fortunate to retain his low-paying but stable job as a songwriter with Southern Music. Beiderbecke's early death in 1931 also darkened Carmichael's mood. Of that time, he wrote later: "I

5187-493: The following formats: sheet music, photos, scrapbooks, posters, LPs, 45s, music magazines, books, lacquer discs, personal papers, theatre playbills, film, video, analog tape, and recordings. Many of these items are currently approaching one hundred years of age. A finite window of time exists to preserve these materials through digitization. The Foundation's non-circulating library houses a wide variety of reference materials. In addition, students, teachers and researchers from around

5278-624: The general public. Since 2011, the Songbook Foundation has presented the following exhibits: "The Great American Songbook" (2011), "G.I. Jive: The Music and Entertainers of World War II" (2012), "Blast from the Past: Roaring Hot '20s Jazz" (2013), "A Change Is Gonna Come: 1960s Broadway Musicals" (2014), "Gus Kahn: The Man Behind the Music" (2015), and "The Great Indiana Songbook: Two Centuries of Hoosier Music" (2016). The exhibit now on display

5369-467: The inductees, have been placed near the location of the Starr Piano Company's manufacturing complex. Carmichael is memorialized with an Indiana state historical marker , installed in 2007 in front of the former Book Nook (one of Carmichael's favorite local hangouts) on South Indiana Avenue, near the corner of Kirkwood and Indiana Streets in Bloomington. The marker is located across the street from

5460-657: The interactive display which houses clips and short biographies of over four decades of singers and songwriters, artifacts from the Songbook Archives that relate to the music and musicians being highlighted in the Songbook Gallery exhibits are displayed. The Songbook Academy Summer Intensive, formerly known as the High School Vocal Academy and Competition, originated in 2009 and is held annually in July. The program

5551-655: The late 1990s, Feinstein recorded two more albums of Gershwin music: Nice Work If You Can Get It: Songs by the Gershwins (1996) and Michael & George: Feinstein Sings Gershwin (1998). Feinstein's albums in the 21st century have included Romance on Film, Romance on Broadway (2000), Michael Feinstein with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (2001), Hopeless Romantics (2005, featuring George Shearing ), and The Sinatra Project (2008). In 2000,

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5642-557: The most critically acclaimed shows of 2009, and the duo created a studio album from the material, titled The Power of Two , and it included their cover of the Indigo Girls song of the same name. In 2010, PBS aired Michael Feinstein's American Songbook , a three-part television documentary that depicts the history of the American popular song up to 1960 as well as Feinstein's own life and career. As of June 2011, Feinstein has written

5733-515: The multi-Academy Award-winning film The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) with Dana Andrews , Myrna Loy and Fredric March , Carmichael's character teaches a disabled veteran with metal prostheses to play " Chopsticks ," and also performs "Lazy River." Carmichael played Hi Linnett in Canyon Passage (1946), a Universal Pictures western that starred Dana Andrews (his costar in The Best Years of Our Lives and Night Song ), Susan Hayward , and Brian Donlevy . He also composed several songs for

5824-526: The music of a featured composer, often accompanied by the composer. These included collaborations with Burton Lane (two volumes: 1990, 1992), Jule Styne (1991), Jerry Herman ( Michael Feinstein Sings the Jerry Herman Songbook , 1993), Hugh Martin (1995), Jimmy Webb ( Only One Life: The Songs of Jimmy Webb , 2003) and Jay Livingston / Ray Evans (2002). He has also recorded three albums of standards with Maynard Ferguson : Forever (1993), Such Sweet Sorrow (1995), and Big City Rhythms (1999). In

5915-507: The never-completed "Hitler Blues." Throughout the 1940s Carmichael maintained a strong personal and professional relationship with Mercer. In later 1941 their continuing collaboration led to " Skylark ," considered one of Carmichael's greatest songs. Bing Crosby recorded it almost immediately in January 1942. Since then many others have recorded the song, including Glenn Miller , Dinah Shore , Helen Forrest (with Harry James ), Aretha Franklin and Bette Midler . Carmichael's 1942 song "I'm

6006-440: The piano. Carmichael's "March of the Hoodlums" and Sheldon Brooks's "Walkin' the Dog" were produced from Carmichael's last recording session at the Gennett Records studio on May 2, 1928, with a band he had hand-selected. In 1929, after realizing that he preferred making music and had no aptitude for or interest in becoming a lawyer (he was sacked from his job at the law firm), Carmichael moved to New York City, where he worked for

6097-405: The piano. His last public appearance occurred in early 1981, when he filmed Country Comes Home with country music performer Crystal Gayle for CBS. According to his biographer, Carmichael had supported the Republican Party since his youth, and did so throughout his life. He voted for Wendell Willkie at the 1940 presidential election , and backed Barry Goldwater , the party's candidate, at

6188-438: The public via microphones on stage and in mass media. On October 31, 1927, Carmichael recorded " Star Dust ," one of his most famous songs, at the Gennett Records studio in Richmond, Indiana , playing the piano solo himself. Carmichael recruited Frank Trumbauer and Bix Beiderbecke, along with members of the Paul Whiteman Orchestra that included the Dorsey brothers, to play at the late October recording session with him; it

6279-405: The public, cultivating a new generation of movie lovers. Some screenings included guest speakers, who enlightened audiences on the nature and creation of the movies shown. The Songbook Archives serves as a repository for the papers of significant Songbook figures including Meredith Willson , Hy Zaret , and Gus Kahn , as well as special collections covering such artists as The Andrews Sisters in

6370-454: The repertoire known as the Great American Songbook . In 1988, he won a Drama Desk Special Award for celebrating American musical theatre songs. Feinstein is also a multi-platinum-selling, five-time Grammy-nominated recording artist. He is the artistic director for The Center for the Performing Arts in Carmel, Indiana . Feinstein was born in Columbus, Ohio, the son of Florence Mazie (née Cohen), an amateur tap dancer, and Edward Feinstein,

6461-453: The same ill fate as his earlier attempt, Brown County Autumn . The suite received little notice and only limited success, but Carmichael remained financially secure due to the royalties from his past hits. During the 1940s and 1950s Carmichael also wrote more than a dozen songs for children, including "The Whale Song," "Merry-Go-Round," and "Rocket Ship." Ray Charles 's classic rendition of " Georgia on My Mind ," released on August 19, 1960,

6552-412: The score for two new stage musicals, The Night They Saved Macy's Parade and The Gold Room . His Manhattan nightclub, Feinstein's at Loews Regency New York, presented the top talent of pop and jazz from 1999 to 2012, including Rosemary Clooney , Liza Minnelli , Glen Campbell , Barbara Cook , Diahann Carroll , Jane Krakowski , Lea Michele , Cyndi Lauper , Jason Mraz and Alan Cumming . The club

6643-402: The summer intensive each year from its inception in 2009. Finalists gather at the foundation's headquarters for a vocal "boot camp" and final competition. The winner receives scholarship money and the opportunity to perform with Michael at his cabaret in New York. In 2009, Feinstein became the artistic director of The Center for the Performing Arts. located in Carmel, Indiana. Construction of

6734-409: The vocal strength to sing without amplification on stage, as well as the unusual tone of his voice, which he described as "flatsy through the nose," he took advantage of new electrical technologies, especially the microphone, sound amplification, and advances in recording. As a singer-pianist, Carmichael was adept at selling his songs to lyricists, music publishers , film producers, and promoting them to

6825-417: The way. Carmichael's output followed the changing trend. In 1933 he began a long-lasting collaboration with lyricist Johnny Mercer , newly arrived in New York, on " Lazybones ," which became a hit. Southern Music published the sheet music in 1933; more than 350,000 copies were sold in three months. Carmichael collaborated with Mercer on nearly three dozen songs, including "Thanksgiving," "Moon Country," and

6916-535: The world visit the Foundation's website to view and research selections from the Archives, which contains over one hundred collections, 35,000 pieces of sheet music, and 3,000 reference books. Items housed in the Foundation's Archives include: Michael Feinstein Michael Jay Feinstein (born September 7, 1956) is an American singer, pianist, and music revivalist . He is an archivist and interpreter for

7007-511: Was a major hit. (Charles received Grammys both for Best Male Vocal and Best Popular Single that year.) In 1961, Carmichael was featured in an episode of The Flintstones entitled "The Hit Songwriters." Jerry Lee Lewis recorded "Hong Kong Blues" during his final Sun sessions in 1963, but it was never released. In 1964, while the Beatles were exploding on the scene, Carmichael lamented, "I'll betcha I have 25 songs lying in my trunk" and no one

7098-550: Was age 20. Through the widow of concert pianist-actor Oscar Levant , he was introduced in 1977 to Ira Gershwin , who hired him to catalogue his extensive collection of phonograph records. The assignment led to six years of researching, cataloguing and preserving the unpublished sheet music and rare recordings in Gershwin's home, Ira's works but also those of his composer brother George Gershwin . During Feinstein's years with Gershwin, he also got to know Gershwin's next-door neighbor, singer Rosemary Clooney , with whom Feinstein formed

7189-687: Was among the first singer-songwriters in the age of mass media to exploit new communication technologies, such as television and the use of electronic microphones and sound recordings. Carmichael was an industry trailblazer who recorded varied interpretations of his own songs and provided material for many other musicians to interpret. His creative work includes several hundred compositions, some of them enduring classics, as well as numerous sound recordings and appearances on radio and television and in motion pictures. Music historian Ivan Raykoff described Carmichael as "one of America's most prolific songwriters" and an "iconic pianist" whose work appeared in more than

7280-515: Was an Academy Award nominee in 1946, from Canyon Passage , in which he co-starred as a musician riding a mule . " In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening, " with lyrics by Mercer, won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1951. Carmichael also appeared as a character actor and musical performer in 14 films, hosted three musical-variety radio programs , performed on television, and wrote two autobiographies. Hoagland Howard "Hoagy" Carmichael

7371-465: Was an American musician, composer, songwriter, actor, and lawyer. Carmichael was one of the most successful Tin Pan Alley songwriters of the 1930s, and was among the first singer-songwriters in the age of mass media to utilize new communication technologies such as television, microphones , and sound recordings . Carmichael composed several hundred songs, including 50 that achieved hit record status. He

7462-632: Was born in Bloomington, Indiana , on November 22, 1899. He was the first child and only son of Howard Clyde and Lida Mary (Robison) Carmichael. His parents named him after a circus troupe called the "Hoaglands" that had stayed at the Carmichael house during his mother's pregnancy. Howard worked as a horse-drawn taxi driver and later as an electrician , while Lida, a versatile pianist, played accompaniment at silent movie theaters and private parties to earn extra income. Hoagy had two younger sisters, Georgia and Joanne. Because of Howard's unstable job history,

7553-484: Was calling to say "have you got a real good song for such-and such an artist." (Beatles guitarist George Harrison released covers of "Baltimore Oriole" and "Hong Kong Blues" in early 1981.) Royalties on his standards were earning Carmichael over $ 300,000 a year. Carmichael's second memoir, Sometimes I Wonder: The Story of Hoagy Carmichael , was published in 1965. By 1967 he was spending time in New York, but his new songs were unsuccessful and his musical career came to

7644-658: Was closed in December 2012 due to a year-long complete renovation of the Regency Hotel. Feinstein opened the nightclub Feinstein's at the Nikko in San Francisco's Nikko Hotel in May 2013. In 2015, he entered into a creative partnership with the founders of 54 Below , located in the basement of New York’s Studio 54 , and they rebranded the nightclub Feinstein's/54 Below until their partnership ended in 2022. From 2012 to 2015, Feinstein

7735-950: Was inducted into the Songbook Hall of Fame on Saturday, September 30 at the annual Songbook Celebration Gala and Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. In July 2017, the Los Angeles-based GRAMMY Museum announced that the Great American Songbook Foundation has been designated as a Cultural Affiliate, joining four other institutions worldwide: the Bob Marley Museum in Kingston, Jamaica; the Woody Guthrie Center in Tulsa, OH; The Beatles Story in Liverpool, UK; and

7826-849: Was inducted into the USA's Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1971, along with Duke Ellington . In 1972, Indiana University awarded Carmichael an honorary doctorate in music. On June 27, 1979, the Newport Jazz Festival honored Carmichael's 80th birthday with a concert titled "The Stardust Road: A Hoagy Carmichael Jubilee" in Carnegie Hall . The tribute concert was hosted by former bandleader Bob Crosby and included performances by many major musical performers, such as singers Kay Starr , Jackie Cain , Dave Frishberg , and Max Morath , and musicians Billy Butterfield , Bob Wilber , Yank Lawson , Vic Dickenson , and Bob Haggart . National Public Radio broadcast

7917-559: Was not well received by critics. Between 1944 and 1948, Carmichael became a well-known radio personality and hosted three musical-variety programs. In 1944–45, the 30-minute Tonight at Hoagy's aired on Mutual radio on Sunday nights at 8:30 p.m. (Pacific time), sponsored by Safeway supermarkets. Produced by Walter Snow, the show featured Carmichael as host and vocalist. Musicians included Pee Wee Hunt and Joe Venuti . Fans were rather blunt about Carmichael's singing, providing comments such as "you cannot sing for your soul" and "your singing

8008-607: Was similar to other patriotic efforts by Irving Berlin (" This Is the Army , Mr. Jones"), Johnny Mercer (" G.I. Jive "), and Frank Loesser (" Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition "). Carmichael's wartime songs (most with lyrics by Paul Francis Webster ) included "My Christmas Song for You," "Don't Forget to Say 'No' Baby," "Billy-a-Dick," "The Army of Hippocrates," "Cranky Old Yank," "Eager Beaver," "No More Toujours l'Amour," "Morning Glory," and

8099-585: Was starring on Broadway in a series of in-concert shows: Michael Feinstein in Concert (April through June 1988), Michael Feinstein in Concert: "Isn't It Romantic" (October through November 1988), and Michael Feinstein in Concert: Piano and Voice (October 1990). He returned to Broadway in 2010, in a concert special duo with Dame Edna titled All About Me (March through April 2010). 1991 saw Feinstein's persona as

8190-418: Was the host of the weekly, one-hour radio program Song Travels with Michael Feinstein , produced by South Carolina ETV Radio and distributed by NPR. On the program, Feinstein explored the legendary songs of 20th century America. The series surveys the passage of American popular song throughout the American landscape, evolving with each artist and performance. Feinstein was named Principal Pops Conductor for

8281-446: Was tiring of jazz and I could see that other musicians were tiring as well. The boys were losing their enthusiasm for the hot stuff…. No more hot licks, no more thrills." Carmichael's eulogy for "hot" jazz, however, was premature. Big band swing was just around the corner, and jazz soon turned in another direction with new bandleaders, such as Benny Goodman , Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey , and new singers, such as Bing Crosby , leading

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