The Great American Songbook Is Still Being Written Writer // Janelle Morrison • Photography // Courtesy of The Great American Songbook Foundation
I think most of our readers know that I am a champion of the arts, but I have to admit, until recently, I had not spent quality time in The Songbook Gallery, and what I experienced and learned during that visit was truly mind-blowing. It is my hope that all of our readers visit it—in person or virtually—and take advantage of all that the current exhibit, “From the Jazz Age to Streaming: The Soundtrack of the 20s–20s,” has to offer.
T
he Great American Songbook Foundation’s Executive Director Chris Lewis shared with me the purpose of this particular exhibit as well as information about the foundation that may not be well known to those outside of its organization and supporters. We also discussed how the Great American Songbook continues to expand its pages in each new era, preserving artists’ legacies of yesterday while documenting notable artists of today, to share with the generations of tomorrow. “Our mantra has always been there’s no reason to save these things if people don’t see them, share them and learn from them,” Lewis expressed. “So, that’s
a big part of our mission, and that’s what we’ve been trying to do on an even broader scale.”
What Is The Great American Songbook Foundation? With a mission to inspire and educate by celebrating the music that many have now coined the “Great American Songbook,” The Great American Songbook Foundation (GASF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that is unique in its focus and ambitious in its efforts to become the authority in regard to the history, culture and continuing artistic legacy of America’s original popular song. The Great American Songbook is an enduring canon of the
most important and influential American popular songs and jazz standards that began in the early 20th century and is expanding into the 21st century. In addition to curating exhibitions, GASF’s mission also includes building upon The Great American Songbook Archives & Library that preserves 300plus collections and physical artifacts of the Songbook. For example, I stood less than 5 feet away from the actual piano that Harold Arlen worked from and wrote several familiar standards from, including “Over the Rainbow.” Lewis explained that this is a fairly recent acquisition for GASF. To stand in front of and look over this magnificent artifact was a sensational moment, to say the least. GASF’s archives also included over 12,000 items from the Meredith Willson collection that have been digitized and are available via digital scrapbook and online exhibit. The archives have drawn in researchers from more than 10 countries who have visited the Songbook Archives for research on a variety of projects, such as the BBC documentary “The Andrews Sisters – Queens of the Music Machines” and “The Music Man” Broadway revival starring Hugh Jackman. “We have an 8,000-square-foot [offsite] building where we warehouse everything,” Lewis shared. “We’ve had researchers here from over 10 countries and have hosted conferences, including two international musicology conferences, here [at the Center for the Performing Arts], and people have come from Oxford University Press and the Library of Congress and have convened here because we are the home of the Great American Songbook.” GASF is proud to have formed the Exhibit Alliance with local cultural institutions: Indiana Historical Society, Kurt Vonnegut Library, Carmel Clay Public Library, Indianapolis Public Library and Carmel Clay Historical Society. GASF also produces The Songbook Academy—a national summer intensive for high school-aged singers who have an interest in classic Broadway, jazz and popular music. And GASF is extremely proud to be a Grammy Museum Cultural Affiliate, joining an elite group of institutions worldwide.
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