This past weekend, only a few blocks from the borders of Broadway's Theater District, the music of The Great White Way was honored in the Rose Theater at Jazz at Lincoln Center. During World on A String: Swinging Songs of Broadway, The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis and vocalist Kate Davis proved that the music of Broadway lives on through a second American art form, Jazz. 

This of course is not news, Broadway's repertoire has nourished the Jazz songbook since its beginnings. What audiences know as the Great American Songbook is highly populated by popular Broadway melodies of the early 20th century. Yet, something new was demonstrated this weekend: Broadway's influence on the American Songbook is not fixed. From Elton John's "Grasslands Chant" from the Lion King, to Mel Brook's "Springtime for Hitler" from the Producer, Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra showed that jazz's inventory is constantly being stocked with new musical hits.

Of course the show still included the work of the Broadway/Jazz legends like Rodgers, Berlin, Kern, and their "junior" associate Sondheim, but their work was presented with new arrangements, many done by members of the orchestra.

In addition, Kate Davis and her contemporary voice, described by Broadway World as "syrupy...lush and hypnotic," shared fresh interpretations on standards like Irving Berlin's "Moonshine Lullaby" and Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Hello Young Lovers." During intermission, audience members gossiped and gushed over Davis's talent, one even remarked he had seen each performance, in which Davis's technique changed and improved from night to night. 

World on A String: Swinging Songs of Broadway, shed light on the many bright prospects for Broadway and Jazz, and the talent guiding them into the future.