Five-time Grammy nominee Michael
Feinstein will host a three-part series on PBS this fall that looks
at the history of popular music.
The first part of Michael Feinstein's
American Songbook premieres on October 6.
In the Great American Songbook,
Feinstein seeks to preserve the musical memorabilia of the 1920s to
1960s.
“When I first moved to Los Angeles,”
he says in the show, “I discovered that movie studios would throw
away archives, music publishers would get rid of old arrangements,
manuscripts would be discarded, and complete orchestrations for shows
would be tossed out. Our musical heritage was literally disappearing
because people didn't understand it was valuable to save it.”
The show chronicles Feinstein's work to
preserve the musical heritage of songwriters such as George and Ira
Gershwin, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, and Rodgers and Hart, and takes
a look at what makes musical icons such as Frank Sinatra, Rosemary
Clooney and Nat King Cole so timeless.
“Michael has been called the Indiana
Jones of popular music – he's been collecting since he was five
years old,” says producer-director Amber Edwards. “But for him
it's not about amassing and hoarding objects; it's all part of his
mission to keep this music alive for future generations.”
Feinstein married his longtime partner
Terrence Flannery in 2008.