Once upon a time, music made legends. A songwriter's career was not made or broken by his first single. The soundtrack of the early Twentieth Century was written by giants and sung by satin-clad women in smoke-filled lounges. Gershwin was the latest craze. Rodgers and Hammerstein won Pulitzer Prizes and audience raves. Leonard Bernstein lead a life of flamboyant scandal. Jazz geniuses collected in low-lit rooms to create masterpieces.
Somewhere along the way, these cornerstones of American music became trite. They were sung without sentiment and without understanding. The "standards" became truly standard. Lifeless. Not classic - just old.
But this is the music that belongs to all of us. Sung well, it will never go out of style. It can still be heard in the cabarets and piano bars of New York City. Whether your drink is scotch on the rocks or an Old-Fashioned, you can be part of that world again.