Richard Glazier owes his lifelong fascination with George and Ira Gershwin –- and a career as a professional musician — to a chance encounter with a stack of old 78-rpm records.
As the performer tells it, “I was rummaging through my Aunt Esther’s record cabinet when I found a vinyl recording of “Rhapsody in Blue.” She played it for me and I was hooked.”
Nearly 35 years later, he’s a trained classical pianist with a Doctorate of Musical Arts from the Cleveland Institute of Music. Back then, he was just a nine-year-old kid, fascinated by the rhythm.
“I even wrote a fan letter to Ira Gershwin,” Glazier says. “Amazingly, he answered and we began a three-year correspondence. In 1975, when I was 12 years old, he invited me to his Beverly Hills home.” The youngster played “Embraceable You” for the composer, on his brother George’s piano.
“In my concerts I always tell the story of meeting Ira because it literally changed the course of my life. Since we met, I can honestly say that not a day has gone by that I have not either discussed, played or studied the music of George and Ira Gershwin.”
Glazier presents a multi-media performance on Monday, May 23, with the showing of his documentary “From Garland to Gershwin,” interspersed with live anecdotes and performance, including “Rhapsody in Blue.” To accompany another live tune on his Steinway grand, from the original “A Star is Born,” Glazier has arranged for the screening of rare footage of the film’s Hollywood premiere, with stars Judy Garland and James Mason working the red carpet.
For Glazier, there may have evolved a great American songbook without Gershwin, but it ain’t necessarily so. “Their work is much more than just songs, it’s part of the American culture.
To create a genre, the second-generation immigrant Gershwin blended the voices of the melting pot to create a new, distinctly American voice. “He absorbed the new America in the 1920’s, and created a genre unique to this country,” Glazier says. “It’s an amalgamation of cultures.”
And you can dance to it. One testament to the greatness of the music is its enduring appeal to musicians of all types. “This music was written for stage and screen,” Glazier points out, “but has been played by jazz greats, pop singers from Sinatra to Buble, high school bands, everybody. The melodies work in so many ways.”
How does Glazier the pianist describe Gershwin’s style? It’s very ‘singing.’ There’s lots of color, and a playful elegance.” If he had to sum it up in one voice, it would be that of Ella Fitzgerald.
Glazier produced the documentary, “a dream of mine for 10 years,” himself. It was a financial gamble, but seems to have paid off: the film has been picked up for distributed to PBS stations across the country. KQED will show the program in June.
Life, outside of a Gershwin tune perhaps, is seldom what you plan. But for Glazier, the success of “From Garland to Gershwin” movie and stage show is “exactly how I pictured it in my wildest dreams.”
The Sebastiani Theatre Foundation presents “From Garland to Gershwin : A Musical Journal With Richard Glazier” on Monday, May 24. Reception at 6 p.m. Film and performance at 7 p.m. Admission is $20. Proceeds will benefit the foundation and the Sonoma International Film Society.
