Fascinatin’ Rhythms – Songs from the Great American Songbook, with Michael Lasser, Alan Jones, and Jessica Ann Best, is the fourth and final event in Brockport’s Winter Serenades series. This event takes place Sunday, March 27, from 3 to 4:30 p.m. in St. Luke’s Episcopal Church at the corner of State and Main Streets. There is no charge to attend and no tickets are required. In addition to ample street parking availability there is a public lot behind the church.
Michael Lasser says this is a program of old songs, some of them a century old. Written between the two world wars by such songwriters as Irving Berlin, the Gershwins, Cole Porter, and Johnny Mercer, they form an unequalled body of distinctively American songs. Combining familiarity with inventiveness, merging sentiment and wit, they remain as fresh and singable now as when they were new.
For more than forty years, from 1980-2021, Lasser was the host and producer of the nationally syndicated public radio show, Fascinatin’ Rhythm. He was recognized with a 1994 Peabody Award for letting “our treasury of popular tunes speak (and sing) for itself with sparkling commentary, tracing the contributions of the composers and performers to American society.”
A speaker, broadcaster, and critic, Lasser is the author of City Songs & American Life, 1900-1950 (2019), America’s Songs II: From the 1890’s to the Post-War Years (2013); and with Philip Furia, America’s Songs: The Stories Behind the Songs of Broadway, Hollywood and Tin Pan Alley (2006). He is also the former theater critic for the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, and for 35 years has spoken at museums and universities all over the country.
Lasser’s books will be available for purchase and signing at the open reception immediately following the performance.
Jessica Ann Best and Alan Jones are also well known in Rochester and beyond. As a singer and piano player, Jones performs a wide variety of repertoire, from Cabaret to Classical. Best, known for her vocal versatility, performs nationwide in opera, musical theater, jazz, concert, oratorio, and recital. Critic Laurence Vittes said that her singing “showed just how magnificent and commanding a mezzo-soprano can be.”
Current CDC COVID safety guidelines will be followed. See stlukesbrockport.org for a YouTube link if you prefer to view the performance at home. For more information, call the Village of Brockport at 637-5300, ext. 110, or visit www.brockportny.org.
Provided information and photostlukesbrockport.org
