Swingin' Christmas

MUSIC: "Let's Face The Music And Dance"

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Nelson Riddle's arrangement of an Irving Berlin classic

to whet your appetite for what is to come.

This is a Christmas celebration of the great composers of popular music

played by an orchestra led by John Wilson, an orchestra

best described as sensational.

Tonight the musicians will be playing my kind of music.

I grew up listening to it, but nowadays I've got a hard time finding it.

We're going to put that right tonight with a concert celebrating

a catalogue of music defined as the Great American Songbook.

The trouble with that title is it ignores the Great British Songbook,

which contains some gems.

Here's one of them written by Noel Coward.

MUSIC: "Mad About The Boy"

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

So, John, you're a classically trained musician.

How did you become involved with this music?

I sort of grew up listening to this music. My parents listened to it,

it was on the television, Radio 2 with Alan Dell,

those sorts of broadcasters, so it's always been around me.

But what does it mean to you? What's its appeal?

I think it has an immediate appeal, this music. The tunes are good,

it's wonderfully orchestrated, it's very ear-catching.

It enters the ear with facility and leaves it with difficulty,

as Sir Thomas Beecham said.

And what about the choice of music, did you find it difficult to do

a programme like tonight?

Oh, yes, definitely. An embarrassment of riches.

There's so much good stuff. I mean, we could 12 of these concerts

in a row and still not get anywhere near exhausted.

It's interesting you say that, because I would argue

I love this kind of music, I'm delighted that you've been responsible

for a revival of it, but the fact remains, it's very difficult music

to find in television or radio.

Does that meant to say that it's disappearing?

I think it's sort of dipped out of fashion over the past 20 or 30 years,

and the music of a younger generation takes over.

But once enough time has passed, people start to re-evaluate.

Most of this music is 80 or 90 years old now and it's as fresh as paint,

so to a new generation, most of us in the orchestra are under 40,

some of them aren't, and we're discovering it for the first time.

So when you go out and do the tours that you do, do you find that

there's a younger generation coming and enjoying the music?

-Getting younger.

-Yeah.

OK. So back to your orchestra for some more music.

Next a song written by Cole Porter, one of his finest,

demonstrating his talent as a composer and a lyricist.

Someone once described him as being both Gilbert and Sullivan.

Our singer is also an actress who whose career embraces stage, screen,

cabaret and musical theatre, radio and telly. In other words,

she's in demand. Now she's about to demonstrate why.

Welcome Anna-Jane Casey.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

# It was just

# One of those things

# Just one of those crazy flings

# One of those bells that now and then rings

# Just one of those things

# It was just one of those nights

# Just one of those fabulous flights

# A trip to the moon on gossamer wings

# Just one of those things

# If we'd thought a bit

# Of the end of it

# When we started painting the town

# We'd have been aware that our love affair

# Was too hot

# Not to cool down

# So goodbye, my dear, and amen

# Here's hopin' we meet now and then

# It was great fun

# But it was just one of those things

# If we'd thought a bit

# Of the end of it

# When we started painting the town

# We'd have been aware that our love affair

# It was too hot

# Mmm, to hot to cool down

# So goodbye, my dear, and amen

# Here's hopin' we meet now and then

# It was great fun

# It was just one of those

# Things... Yeah! #

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Johnny Mercer was one of the great lyricists.

Alan Jay Lerner, who was allowed an opinion on this subject, said he was the best,

but maybe one of his best ideas was founding Capitol Records

in Hollywood in the 1940s. His ambition was to promote the music

he loved by recording the cream. His list of artists included

three of the all-time greats - Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland

and Nat King Cole, and this orchestral medley

is a tribute to them and the company

which did so much to promote the very best.

MUSIC: SWING MEDLEY

MUSIC: "The Trolley Song"

MUSIC: "Come Fly With Me"

MUSIC: "Nature Boy"

MUSIC: "All The Way"

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Memory after memory from that wonderful medley.

You don't so much listen to that music, you kind of embrace it.

Those of us who believe that the compositions we play tonight

represent a volume of work as important and lasting

as any in all of music, were delighted when it was featured

in two outstanding BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall.

Our next guest tonight is a singer who performed at the Prom in 2009

featuring MGM musicals. Apart from being a singer,

he's a writer, producer, actor and director best known for creating

sitcoms like Family Guy, American Dad and The Cleveland Show.

Here with a Nelson Riddle arrangement of song written

by Jimmy Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn, please welcome Seth MacFarlane.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

# How lucky can one guy be?

# I kissed her and she kissed me

# Like a fella once said Ain't that a kick in the head?

# The room was completely black

# I hugged her and she hugged back

# Like the sailor said, quote Ain't that hole in the boat?

# My head keeps spinning I go to sleep and keep grinning

# If this is just the beginning

# My life is going to be beautiful

# I've sunshine enough to spread

# Oh, it's just like the fella said

# Tell me quick Ain't that a kick in the head?

# Oh, like the fella once said

# Ain't that a kick in the head?

# And like that sailor said, quote

# Ain't that a hole in the boat?

# My head keeps on spinning

# I go to sleep and keep grinning

# If this is just the beginning

# My life is going to be beautiful

# She's telling me we'll be wed

# Oh, she's picked out a king-sized bed

# I couldn't feel any better or I'd be sick

# Oh, tell me quick

# Oh, ain't love a kick

# Oh, tell me quick

# Ain't love a kick in the head? #

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

# That certain night

# The night we met

# There was magic abroad in the air

# There were angels dining at the Ritz

# And a nightingale sang

# In Berkeley Square

# I may be right

# I may be wrong

# But I'm perfectly willing to swear

# That when you turned and smiled at me

# A nightingale sang

# In Berkeley Square

# The moon that lingered over London town

# Poor puzzled moon

# He wore a frown

# How could he know we two were so in love?

# The whole darn world seemed upside down

# The streets of town were paved with stars

# It was such a romantic affair

# And as we kissed and said good night

# A nightingale sang in Berkeley Square

# The streets of town were paved with stars

# It was such a romantic affair

# And as we kissed and said good night

# A nightingale sang in Berkeley Square

# I know cos I was there

# That night in Berkeley Square. #

APPLAUSE

Lovely arrangement by Robert Farnon, of course, great British arranger.

He composed it. Who you knew!

I did. I knew him very well, the last ten years of his life.

I was his copyist, assistant proofreader.

I learned a lot from working for him.

-What did you learn?

-Studying those scores, I mean,

they sound wonderfully rich and elaborate, but on the page, there's not very much.

-He was a master of what to leave out.

-Yes.

What about this band of yours? When did you first get the idea?

I mean, this is a symphony orchestra with a dance band in the middle,

-basically, isn't it?

-It is. Yeah.

-Wrapped round.

-It's just that.

-So when did you get the idea, and why?

-'93, '94,

I was playing the piano in the Grosvenor House Hotel,

and I met Matt Skelton, the drummer,

and we became friends, and he was working with a singer,

and he said, "Why don't you come and add some string parts

"to this rhythm section we've got?"

So I did, and it grew from that.

It started as a 20-piece thing,

and it was 96 last year at the Proms.

It's growing every year!

And when you did it, was that in your mind, that eventually

-you'd have a promenade concert maybe?

-Oh, that was a dream!

And it took us five years to get one.

But it was a thrill to get the MGM prom.

-We had an enormous reaction from the public.

-Quite rightly so.

It was wonderful. A proper celebration of this kind of music.

And again, bringing in the new audience, which we were talking about earlier.

Let's talk about the band itself.

Because you hand-choose the people who play in the orchestra, don't you?

I do. I've spent the past decade and a half conducting all the orchestras

in the UK, and made lots of friends,

and this orchestra basically consists of all of those

who really enjoy playing their instruments,

and love this sort of music,

and many of them are specialists in this genre.

The brass players are all dance band players,

and the rhythm section's a sort of specialist outfit.

And it stays pretty much the same from concert to concert.

They almost have a reasonable time when they come in!

Let's pick out a couple of soloists now, cos we're going to feature two soloists.

-First of all, clarinet, a tribute to Artie Shaw.

-Yep. Mark Crooks.

Who is over there. Evening, Mark.

And then the principal trumpet player.

-Yeah.

-Who is also Professor of Music at the Royal College of Music.

Yes, a very distinguished person, he's a professor of trumpet

at the Royal College of Music.

-And he's got a big, big sound, hasn't he?

-Absolutely.

You need a special person playing lead trumpet in an orchestra,

they have to have heart and soul and generosity,

and Mike Lovatt has all of those things.

He's the single personality of this orchestra.

-Is that important?

-Absolutely crucial.

It is interesting too,

because we're going to hear a big fat sound later on,

but for this session, he's going to play muted.

-Very, very soft.

-A lovely, jolly man.

-Yeah, absolutely.

OK. There you go, Maestro.

So, our two featured soloists are on trumpet, Mike Lovatt, as we said,

but first, Mark Crooks, on clarinet,

-with George Gershwin's classic composition, Lady Be Good.

-1, 2, 1, 2, 3...

APPLAUSE

APPLAUSE

That was Mike Lovatt, the trumpet soloist,

and The Shadow Of Your Smile, by Johnny Mandel.

Now, let's bring together our two singers

and, in doing so, acknowledge the fact that is it Christmas time,

full of winter wonderlands, chestnuts roasting on an open fire,

and Mummy kissing Santa Claus.

Have you ever noticed songwriters rarely mention the discomforts of the season?

Red noses, burst pipes, and chilblains.

As Anna-Jane and Seth remind us, Baby, It's Cold Outside!

-# I really can't stay

-But, baby, it's cold outside

-# I've got to go away

-But, baby, it's cold outside

-# This evening has been...

-Been hopin' that you'd drop in

-# ..so very nice

-I'll hold your hands

-# They're just like ice

-My mother will start to worry

# Beautiful, what's your hurry?

-# My father will be pacing the floor

-Listen to the fireplace roar

-# Really, I'd better scurry

-Beautiful, please don't hurry

-# Well, maybe just half a drink more

-Put some records on while I pour

-# The neighbours might think

-But, baby, it's bad out there

-# Say, what's in this drink?

-No cabs to be had out there

-# I wish I knew how...

-Your eyes are like starlight now

# ..to break the spell

# I'll take your hat Your hair looks swell

# I oughta say, no, no, no, sir

# Mind if I move in closer?

# At least I'm gonna say that I tried

# What's the sense of hurting my pride?

-# I really can't stay

-Baby, don't hold out

# Ah, but it's cold outside

-# I simply must go

-But, baby, it's cold outside

-# The answer is

-no It's cold outside

-# The welcome has been...

-How lucky that you dropped in

-# ..so very nice and warm

-Look out the window at that star

# My sister will be suspicious

# Gosh, your lips look delicious

# My brother will be there at the door

# Waves upon a tropical shore

# My maiden aunt's mind is vicious

-# Ooh, your lips are delicious

-Well, maybe just a cigarette more

# There was such a blizzard before

-# I've got to get home

-But, baby, you'll freeze out there

-# Say, lend me a coat

-It's up to your knees out there

-# You've really been grand...

-I thrill when you touch my hand

-# ..but don't you see?

-How can you do this thing to me?

-# There's bound to be talk tomorrow

-Think of my lifelong sorrow

# At least there will be plenty implied

# If you caught pneumonia and died

-# I really can't stay

-Get over that hold out

# Ah, but it's cold outside! #

APPLAUSE

So, our programme is called Swingin' Christmas,

which begs the question, just what is swing?

Well, it's a rhythm, it's a pulse, which can set us all dancing,

it's sound quite unlike any other,

which stirs both the soul and the gut,

there's no definitive explanation for its appeal.

Louis Armstrong was once asked, what is jazz?

And he said, if you have to ask, you'll never know the answer.

Well, it's the same with swing.

This next medley is a tribute to the great band leaders

who have so enriched the world of music.

We celebrate them with a composition they are for ever associated with.

Duke Ellington, Les Brown, Artie Shaw, Tommy Dorsey,

Harry James, Glenn Miller, Stan Kenton, Woody Herman,

they are all there.

And see how many more you can spot

in this wondrous arrangement by Andrew Cottee.

APPLAUSE

The only sensible reaction to that music is "wow".

Our special guest is a singer and musician of distinctive style.

He's at the forefront of a new generation of jazz singers,

keeping alive the music we celebrate tonight.

He starts with a number written by Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen.

I once asked Mr Cahn which came first - the words or the music.

Mr Cahn replied, "The phone call."

Now, this song is the perfect example of what he means.

It's the middle of summer in California. This is the scene -

a man rings Mr Cahn and he says he wants a Christmas song.

It's 90 degrees outside. It doesn't matter.

The phone call is the only inspiration Mr Cahn requires.

Looking out of his windows, the sun cracking the pavements,

he writes, "Let It Snow." Welcome, please, Curtis Stigers.

APPLAUSE

# Oh, the weather outside is frightful

# But the fire is so delightful

# And since we've no place to go

# Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

# It doesn't show signs of stopping

# And we've brought some corn for popping

# The lights are turned way down low

# Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

# When we finally kiss good night

# How I hate to go out in the storm

# But if you'll really hold me tight

# All the way home I'll be warm

# The fire is slowly dying

# And, my dear We're still goodbying

# But as long as you love me so

# Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

# When we finally kiss good night

# How I hate to go back out in the storm

# But if you'll really hold me tight

# All the way home I'll be warm

# The fire is slowly dying

# And, my dear We're still goodbying

# But as long as you love me so

# Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

# Let it snow!

# Let it snow!

# Let it snow! #

APPLAUSE

Now, one of the most haunting of Christmas songs is Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,

introduced, unforgettably, by a young Judy Garland in Meet Me In St Louis.

That's Anna-Jane's choice of song, but first Seth MacFarlane and Frank Loesser's song

warning us that even if we survive the excesses of Christmas, there's more to come.

# When the bells all ring

# And the horns all blow

# And the people we know are fondly kissing

# Will I be with you

# Or will I be among the missing?

# Maybe it's much too early in the game

# But I thought I'd ask you just the same

# What are you doing New Year's?

# New Year's Eve

# Wondering just who'll hold you good and tight

# When it's exactly 12 o'clock that night

# Welcoming in the New Year

# New Year's Eve

# Maybe I'm crazy to suppose

# I'd ever be the one you chose

# Out of the thousand invitations

# That you receive

# But in case I stand one little chance

# Here comes the jackpot question in advance

# What are you doing New Year's?

# New Year's Eve

# But in case I stand one little chance

# Here comes the jackpot question in advance

# What are you doing New Year's?

# New Year's Eve

# New Year's Eve. #

APPLAUSE

# Have yourself a merry little Christmas

# Let your heart be light

# Next year all our troubles will be out of sight

# Have yourself a merry little Christmas

# Make the Yuletide gay

# Next year all our troubles will be miles away

# Once again as in olden days

# Happy golden days of yore

# Faithful friends who are dear to us

# Gather near to us once more

# Someday soon we all will be together

# If the Fates allow

# Until then we'll have to muddle through somehow

# So have yourself

# A merry little Christmas now. #

APPLAUSE

# I'm dreaming

# Of a white Christmas

# Just like the ones I used to know

# Where the treetops glisten

# And children listen

# To hear sleigh bells in the snow

# I'm dreaming

# Of a white Christmas

# With every Christmas card I write

# May your days be merry and bright

# And may all your Christmases be white

# May your days be merry

# And bright

# And may all your Christmases

# Be white

# I'm dreaming

# Of a white Christmas

# Just like the ones I used to know

# Where the treetops glisten

# And children listen

# To hear sleigh bells in the snow

# I'm dreaming

# Of a white Christmas

# With every Christmas card I write

# May your days be merry

# And bright

# And may all your Christmases

# Be white

# And may all your Christmases

# Be white! #

APPLAUSE

CHEERING

We had to do it, didn't we? We just had to.

That's our Swingin' Christmas, ending with the most recorded song of all time.

When I interviewed Bing Crosby, and he sang White Christmas,

I was intrigued that he used Autocue.

Everyone in the audience knew the words, but the Old Groaner,

the man who made the song his own, needed a prompt.

So, if after a few drinks this Christmas, you attempt some of the old songs

and can't remember the words, don't fret.

You're in the very best of company.

All of us here - Seth MacFarlane, Anna-Jane Casey, Curtis Stigers, John Wilson and the orchestra -

wish you a happy Christmas and a very peaceful New Year. So do I. Good night.

APPLAUSE

MUSIC: "White Christmas"