Plot Synopsis

MICHAEL FEINSTEIN'S AMERICAN SONGBOOK chronicles Feinstein's lifelong mission to keep the Great American Songbook alive, as he preserves and passes along the lyrics and melodies of songwriters like George and Ira Gershwin, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, and Rodgers and Hart. The series follows the meticulous musician as he rummages though cluttered basements and dusty attics, sifts through piles in cluttered storage lockers, and unearths obscure items in flea markets. Simultaneously, Feinstein digs deep into the artistry of performers like Frank Sinatra, Rosemary Clooney, Nat King Cole, Ethel Waters, and Margaret Whiting, illuminating what makes them so iconic and timeless and using prized archival audio and film footage to tell the story. The clips, narrated and contextualized by Feinstein, reveal the social and historical forces behind the music, which helped to shape the style, attitude and self-image of America for more than a century. The three one-hour episodes in Season 1 were: "Putting on the Tailfins" (1950s and 1960s); "Best Band in the Land" (1940s); and "A New Step Every Day" (1920s and 1930s). Season 3, which premiered on Friday, April 5, 2013 at 9pm ET with back-to-back episodes, featured: "Show Tunes," with Stephen Sondheim, Angela Lansbury and Christine Ebersole discussing the great American musical; "Let's Dance," with Feinstein exploring the marriage of music and choreography; and "On the Air," as Feinstein traces the phenomenon of the Golden Age of Radio.