Music Mundays Guest Post

Hello there blog readers! This is Court from Once Upon A Bookshelf, and Kailana's asked me to guest post for today's Music Mundays.

I had SUCH a hard time deciding what to talk about for Music Mundays when I told Kailana I was interested in guest posting here. I have a very eclectic taste in music, so had any number of topics half started until yesterday when I decided to scrap them all and go with something that I had been half-debating about from the beginning: Cole Porter.

Cole Porter was an American composer, born in 1891 and died in 1964. Most of his work was in the form of musicals - Anything Goes, Kiss Me Kate, etc. However! Like a lot of similar composers in those days, his songs also got sung by popular singers of that time: Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Judy Garland, Ella Fitzgerald, etc etc. His songs became part of what we know today as "The Standards."

I really came across Cole Porter's music through modern-day crooners (like Michael Buble) and jazz musicians (such as Jamie Cullum and Diana Krall). As I found I loved these songs, I explored more of his songs covered by older musicians, and it brought about my love for many of them. It actually brought about my love for the standards in general, so in a way Cole Porter's music introduced me to Tony Bennett and Ella Fitzgerald, two of my more recent loves.

For a bit of a starter to Cole Porter's music, I'm including a video from the 1965 Academy Awards, of Judy Garland doing an awesome Cole Porter tribute, with a medley of a lot of his popular songs. (As a bonus, this tribute is introduced by the amazingly talented Gene Kelly.)


Next, I want to share a video of Jamie Cullum. He does a lot of the standards on his Twentysomething album, an album that somehow sneaked it's way into my Top Five Favourite Albums of All Time without me noticing it until it was already well established there. What I love about Jamie Cullum is the fact that he's a BRILLIANT pianist as well as a singer. Here's a live
version of his cover of I Get A Kick Out of You:



It may be argued that I decided on this topic just for the following video. ;) I am a huge Doctor Who and Torchwood fan, so my little Standards-loving heart skipped a few beats over a DVD extra that featured John Barrowman (aka Captain Jack) singing Anything Goes. This lead to my exploration of his Cole Porter songs. Anything Goes is still my favourite, but I prefer this video of it than the one in the DVD extras (possibly due to his little bit of dancing in it):



Lastly, here's a video of Michale Buble. I've been lucky enough to see him in concert twice, and I definitely recommend it if you ever get the chance. Here's the thing about Buble - he's more than a singer. He's an entertainer. He's absolutely hilarious. This video doesn't quite show his funny side, but it's a wonderful and gorgeous Cole Porter Song. I've Got You (Under My Skin):