Best Songbook
Ella Fitzgerald is an iconic American jazz vocalist celebrated globally for her exceptional vocal range and improvisational skill. Her mastery of scat singing—creating instrumental-like sounds with vocals—along with her remarkably accurate pitch, established her as a central figure in the swing era....
Cecile McLorin Salvant is a contemporary American jazz vocalist recognized for her distinctive and deeply researched interpretations of classic songbook material. Her performances blend theatrical expression with technical skill, earning her critical acclaim and a Grammy Award. She appeals to listen...
Dianne Reeves is a celebrated contemporary jazz vocalist recognized for her deeply soulful performances and exceptional scat singing ability. Her distinctive contralto voice has garnered multiple Grammy Awards, particularly for her work exploring classic songbook material. She is primarily appreciat...
Crazy for You is a Broadway musical that opened in 1992 with a book by Ken Ludwig and featuring songs by George and Ira Gershwin. The musical incorporates songs from various Gershwin productions from the 1930s, with a story centered on Bobby Child, a banker sent to foreclose on a theater in Nevada....
The World Goes 'Round is a 1991 Off-Broadway musical revue featuring the song catalogue of composer John Kander and lyricist Fred Ebb. Conceived and directed by Scott Ellis with choreography by Susan Stroman and a linking script by David Thompson, the production is performed by a cast of five and ar...
Cowardy Custard is a 1972 musical revue devised to celebrate the songs, plays, and writings of Noël Coward. The original London production opened at the Greenwich Theatre before transferring to the West End, where it ran for more than 400 performances. The revue intersperses well-known Coward songs...
Berlin to Broadway with Kurt Weill is a musical revue created in 1972 that chronicles the career of composer Kurt Weill. The production is structured around his emigration from Germany to the United States, featuring songs from his collaborations with Bertolt Brecht during his European period and la...
A Party with Betty Comden and Adolph Green is a 1958 musical revue starring the titular duo, who wrote and performed the material. The show combines comedic sketches and songs from their Broadway and Hollywood careers, as well as routines originating from their early comedy troupe, The Revuers. It c...
"Oh, Coward!" is a musical revue created by Roderick Cook that celebrates the life and work of the British playwright and composer Noël Coward. Premiering in 1972, the production is structured around Coward's own songs, witty anecdotes, and letters, offering a biographical portrait of the artist. Th...
Make Me a Song is an off-Broadway musical revue featuring the music and lyrics of composer William Finn. Conceived by Rob Ruggiero, the show premiered in 2006 at the Hartt School before moving to an off-Broadway venue in 2007. The revue compiles songs from Finn's well-known musicals, such as Falsett...
The All Night Strut! is a musical revue conceived by Fran Charnas that presents American popular songs from the 1930s and 1940s, drawn from the jazz, swing, and blues traditions. The show features minimal spoken dialogue, relying instead on sung performance and choreography to survey the popular mus...
Samara Joy is an American jazz vocalist recognized for her rich tone and interpretations of mid-20th-century jazz standards. Born into a musical family in the Bronx, she gained prominence while studying at Fordham University, eventually winning the 2019 Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competi...
Gregory Porter is an American jazz singer, songwriter, and actor born in 1971 in Sacramento, California, and raised in Bakersfield. His warm baritone and soul-inflected vocal style have earned him two Grammy Awards for Best Jazz Vocal Album: Liquid Spirit (2014) and Take Me to the Alley (2017). He i...
Norah Jones is an American singer, pianist, and songwriter whose music combines elements of jazz, pop, folk, country, and the American songbook. Her debut album, Come Away with Me, received the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 2003 and includes the recording "Don't Know Why." Jones is known for...
Karrin Allyson is an American jazz vocalist and pianist born in Great Bend, Kansas, who established her career in Kansas City before gaining wider recognition. Known for her versatile, multilingual repertoire, she performs in English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, and Italian, drawing heavily from th...
Jerry's Girls is a musical revue that celebrates the songwriting catalog of composer Jerry Herman. It premiered on Broadway in 1985, directed by Arthur Laurents, and featured a cast of prominent female performers including Dorothy Loudon, Chita Rivera, and Leslie Uggams. The production compiles song...
Red Hot and Cole is a biographical musical revue that chronicles the life and career of the American composer and songwriter Cole Porter. Conceived by Randy Strawderman, the production features a compilation of more than 25 of Porter's classic songs. The narrative traces Porter's journey from his ea...
Madeleine Peyroux is an American jazz and blues singer and guitarist known for her contralto voice, which has frequently drawn comparisons to Billie Holiday. Born in Athens, Georgia, in 1974, she began performing as a street musician in Paris before signing with Atlantic Records. Her 2004 album Care...
A Talent to Amuse is a theatrical revue that premiered in 1969, curated to celebrate Noël Coward's seventieth birthday. The production was assembled using a collection of songs, sketches, and writings drawn from Coward's extensive career in British theater. It served as a tribute to his contribution...
"A Spoonful of Sherman" is a musical revue that premiered in London in 2014, created by Robert J. Sherman to celebrate his family's songwriting legacy. The show traces three generations of Sherman songwriters, beginning with Al Sherman, featuring the Oscar-winning work of the Sherman Brothers, and c...
Nnenna Freelon is an American jazz vocalist born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, who has established herself as one of the leading interpreters of the American songbook. Since her 1992 debut album "Nnenna Freelon," she has released over a dozen recordings and received multiple Grammy nominations, inclu...
Melody Gardot is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist whose music blends elements of jazz, blues, and acoustic pop. She began her music career following a severe cycling accident in 2003, using music therapy to aid her cognitive and physical recovery during which she began writing her own m...
Veronica Swift is an American jazz vocalist and the daughter of jazz musicians Hod O'Brien and Stephanie Nakasian. She gained significant recognition after placing second in the 2015 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Vocals Competition. In 2019, she released her major-label debut album, Confessions...
Ring of Fire is Richard Maltby Jr.'s 2006 Broadway jukebox musical built from Johnny Cash's catalog, including country, gospel, and folk songs.
My Way is a musical revue by David Grapes and Todd Olson in which four performers interpret songs closely associated with Frank Sinatra.
Honky Tonk Angels is Ted Swindley's country-music revue about three aspiring singers who meet on a bus to Nashville and form a performing trio.
Unforgettable: The Nat King Cole Story is a biographical revue starring Clarke Peters, tracing Cole's music and struggles with segregation through 23 songs.
Set to Music was Noël Coward's 1939 Broadway revision of Words and Music, starring Beatrice Lillie and running for 129 performances.
