by Cait Winston
“They are iconic,” Capathia Jenkins says of the pop and jazz standards that make up the Great American Songbook. “These songs will never go away. They are just so beautiful, they’re so well crafted, and as an artist you want to wrap your brain and your artistry around these songs and what they represent. I think that they will always be regarded as the Great American Songbook. Whether we are in 2021, or 2055 — they will remain.”
Joining guest conductor Lucas Waldin and the Cleveland Orchestra, Jenkins will bring Songbook classics by the Gershwins, Oscar Hammerstein, and more to the Blossom stage on Sunday, July 18 at 7:00 pm.
To Jenkins, the music of the Great American Songbook has stood the test of time not only because it evokes universal emotions and tells timeless stories, but because the songs themselves are so well-crafted. “You have a melody that may be unexpected, or you have a harmony that may be unexpected,” she said during a recent telephone conversation. [Read more…]