The music on this recording includes some of the finest songs by many of America’s greatest 20th-century songwriters. Almost all of these songs were written for either a musical theater production or a film, the sole exception being How Deep Is The Ocean from 1932, one of the many “Tin Pan Alley” tunes written by Irving Berlin and published as a single piece. Some come from productions as brilliant and varied as Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein’s Show Boat, Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd, and Meredith Willson’s The Music Man, while others, like Berlin’s Blue Skies and Cole Porter’s At Long Last Love are from shows long since forgotten. But all the songs here have truly become a part of the American fabric. Jean and Bill McClelland have presented their concerts of American song to audiences across the country for years and have been acclaimed for the fresh vitality and great care they bring to this brilliant music. Soprano JEAN McCLELLAND has appeared in the Broadway production of Camelot starring Richard Harris and has performed leading roles in numerous musicals including The Music Man, Guys and Dolls, My Fair Lady, Show Boat, A Little Night Music, The Pirates of Penzance and She Loves Me. She is a renowned teacher of voice and the Alexander Technique and a member of the faculty of the New York Open Center in Manhattan. Pianist BILL McCLELLAND is also a noted composer, and his recent recording of choral works on Albany Records, "The Revenge of Hamish," has received international acclaim. As an performer, he has played in the orchestra of the Broadway production of The Pirates of Penzance and has worked with many groups and artists including the William Appling Singers and Orchestra, Joseph Papp’s Public Theater, Dance Theater Workshop and composer John Cage. He is also leader of the popular swing band The Feetwarmers.