Artists across generations and musical styles can always be united by great songs. And no American songs have shown longer lasting and broader appeal than those of George and Ira Gershwin.
Last week’s post on Tommy Emmanuel also featured British jazz guitar virtuoso Martin Taylor. A quick search on YouTube uncovers Taylor’s version of the Gershwin brothers’ standard “They Can’t Take That Away From Me”. If you’d like to skip over the interview, the performance starts at 3:12.
One of Taylor’s influences is the late Joe Pass, icon of the chord/melody style of jazz guitar that Martin plays. Enjoy Pass’ version of the same song from a 1992 performance.
The song was introduced in the 1937 movie “Shall We Dance” starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rodgers. The clip below is a real treat. It starts with Fred singing the song to Ginger in “Shall We Dance” and ends with them dancing to the song a dozen years later in their last movie together “The Barkleys of Broadway”.
A recent cover of this classic can be found on “Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin” released in 2010.
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