She Brings The Great American Songbook To Legions Of Young People

Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Lena Horne, Rosemary Clooney, Nat King Cole, Sammy Davis Jr. and Judy Garland are just some of the artists who stood out for singing music from what is called the Great American Songbook. Timeless songs ranging from popular hits to jazz standards to Broadway and Hollywood musicals, written between the 1920s and 1960s, continue to be loved today.

The American Songbook Association (ASA) is dedicated to preserving these ever-important American standards. Co-Founder and Executive Director Carolyn Montgomery says ASA creates transformative experiences for people of all ages through participation in the music of the Great American Songbook.

A key goal of the ASA is to help inspire students, especially those without access to music education, to learn how to express themselves creatively. “We also enrich seniors' lives by adding beauty and connection in the form of free concerts and productions and publish Cabaret Scenes, a magazine dedicated to the creation and performance of live music,” says Montgomery, who is also a singer and performer. tribute to Rosemary Clooney's show at 54 Below this month. “Most importantly, we pay artists so they can continue to do their work and make a difference in the lives of everyone who experiences their art.”

Montgomery, a single parent living in Manhattan with a teenage son, saw a need to implement programs to use classical songs to help continue education in the city's schools. “I have always been concerned about the great discrepancy in American educational experiences between different economic strata. I worked hard to get my son into a private school, where I knew he would have access to a well-balanced course of study—not just math, science, and literature, but also music, visual arts, languages, and sports,” says Montgomery. “All of these subjects are necessary for a complete experience, and most students don't have access to them.”

In addition, Montgomery saw the overwhelming benefit of exposing young people to classic songs and understanding the context of the era in which those songs were written. “There are so many new concepts we can introduce,” says Montgomery. “And we can do that by simply playing a Cole Porter or Leonard Cohen song to the students.”

Jeryl Brunner: For people who may not be familiar with the American Songwriters Association, what do you do?

Carolyn Montgomery: It is important for people to know that we do not aim to develop the talent of budding musicians. There are many excellent organizations that do this. Our mission is to give students access to music to expand their thought processes and expand their learning experience to include creativity, emotion, rhythm and language.

Brunner: How do you teach classic pop standards to people of different generations? And how do standards help transform your life?

Montgomery: Any song that becomes a classic has some universal appeal, even if the context of its origins has to be explained in context. Pop indicates “popular”. Just as Irving Berlin and Carole King have written songs that people continue to perform, I have no doubt that Amy Winehouse's work will go down in the classic song archives.

These songs reveal the perspectives of their day and give us a view outside our own experiential “bubble”. Broadening our point of view makes us flexible in our thinking, able to learn, to grow, to accept people who think or behave differently from ourselves. This contribution makes exposure to classical song valuable and transformative. This country needs more, and that's what the ASA aims to do.

Brunner: You went to schools to teach music to kids. What did you learn from the students?

Montgomery: I conceived and developed this program, and have been learning as I go, simply from my interaction with thousands of students over six years. They tell me what catches their eye, and it's often not what any adult would expect. I've learned that students want information they can relate to.

So, if I play music from 100 years ago, they want to know how people lived, ate, consumed entertainment, dressed, spoke. It's like magic: watching their brains take in all the knowledge that music has to offer. I learned from these kids what everyone should learn: people to communicate in a way that they feel comfortable, and then they are ready to listen to what you have to offer. It's about respect, understanding and concern for their comfort level.

Brunner: As a concert performer, bring your tribute to Rosemary Clooney, Carolyn Montgomery: Girlsinger, A Celebration of Rosemary Clooney, at 54 Below in New York this month. Why did you choose to honor her with this show? Why are you connecting with her?

Montgomery: I became obsessed with reading, listening and watching all of Rosemary Clooney's artifacts. I have always recognized his unsurpassed vocal quality and his arrangements created by some of the best in the industry. But there is actually more to it. I read his autobiography and realized that while many specific aspects of our lives are different, there are some uncanny similarities in our personal lives and approach to life. I connected with the things we shared intensely while rehearsing this show. I intend to do this show for a long time in theaters all over the country and Europe.

Brunner: The American Songbook Association also honors luminaries of the American songbook, including Fiddler on the Roof lyricist Sheldon Harnick, Wicked composer Stephen Schwartz, Tony-winning actress Betty Buckley, as to annual fundraiser. Besides raising money for your programs, how do these events contribute to your cause?

Montgomery: Every year we attract ever-larger audiences to our hugely popular galas. In addition to seeing top-notch performances, audiences get to see what we do. If our mission is to provide access to music education in underserved public schools in all 50 states, we need people to understand how vital our work is. Breaking through the white noise of the charitable choices donors have to entrust their money to a cause, getting new people interested and really seeing us is as important as anything else we do.