The Great American Songbook
Jazz Standards & Swing from the 1920s to the 1960s · Live Vocal Performance
The Great American Songbook is the body of classic popular songs that defined American music from the 1920s through to the 1960s. Cole Porter, George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Richard Rodgers, Harold Arlen — the composers whose songs moved from Broadway stages and Hollywood soundstages into the jazz clubs and supper clubs of mid-century America, where Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Billie Holiday and their contemporaries made them the most performed and best-loved songs in the English language.
Kitty has specialised in this repertoire since launching her performing career in 2013. The connection between the American Songbook and musical theatre — Kitty’s first love — turned out to be inseparable: so much of what Kitty performs began its life on a Broadway stage before it became a jazz standard. Understanding that lineage is part of what makes the performances feel grounded rather than generic, and it is why the repertoire works as well in a hotel lounge or a wedding ceremony as it does at a 1940s festival or a corporate dinner or gala awards ceremony.
“The songs everyone knows, performed the way they were written to be sung.”
Era Guide: 1920s to 1960s
The 1920s
The decade that gave birth to jazz as a popular art form. Hot jazz, blues-inflected standards and the early Broadway songbook — the Gershwins’s classic ’S Wonderful was written in 1927. The 1920s set has energy and rhythm, well suited to a Great Gatsby themed event or a lively drinks reception.
The 1930s
The golden age of the Hollywood musical and the swing era. Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Harold Arlen. Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers danced to these songs on screen. Elegant, sophisticated and immediately recognisable, the 1930s repertoire is the heart of the Great American Songbook.
The 1940s
The wartime decade: Vera Lynn, the Andrews Sisters, Glenn Miller and the music that carried a generation through the Blitz and beyond. The 1940s set spans the jive and boogie-woogie of the dance halls to the wistful ballads of separation and hope. Kitty performs a dedicated wartime set for 1940s heritage and commemorative events.
The 1950s & 60s
The era of the great vocal interpreters: Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Doris Day, Peggy Lee, Tony Bennett. The songs became polished, the arrangements lush, the performances definitive. The 1950s and 60s standards are the ones most audiences know best and respond to most immediately.
Why the American Songbook Works for Every Occasion
Weddings
Romantic ballads for a ceremony, swing standards for a drinks reception, sophisticated sets for a wedding breakfast. The Great American Songbook covers every part of a wedding day with music that is elegant, familiar and genuinely moving. See the Weddings page for full details.
Corporate &
Black-Tie Events
Jazz standards and swing classics to accompany a formal dinner, awards ceremony or gala event. The repertoire has the sophistication a corporate occasion requires, with the warmth of songs your guests already know and love. See the Corporate Events page for full details.
Hotels & Private Members’ Clubs
The American Songbook was written for exactly this kind of setting — the supper club, the hotel lounge, the late-night bar. Live jazz standards accompanying cocktails or dining is the original format for this music. See the Hotels & Private Members’ Clubs page for full details.
The Full Repertoire
Kitty’s full repertoire list covers over a hundred songs across the 1920s to the 1960s. Once booked, you are welcome to choose your favourites from the list, and Kitty can advise on which songs work best for each part of your event.
Frequently Asked Questions
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The Great American Songbook is the collection of classic popular songs written primarily between the 1920s and the 1960s, mostly by composers working in Broadway musical theatre and Hollywood. Cole Porter, George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Richard Rodgers and Harold Arlen are among the most celebrated composers. The songs became jazz standards when artists like Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday and Nat King Cole recorded and performed definitive versions of them.
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Jazz standards is the broader term for the songs themselves — the compositions that have been performed and recorded by many different artists over many decades. Swing refers to a particular style of performance: a rhythmic, danceable feel associated with the big band era of the 1930s and 40s. With the duo, trio, or quartet, most of the songs in Kitty’s repertoire can be performed as either a jazz ballad or a swing number depending on the mood and format of the event.
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The repertoire spans the 1920s to the 1960s. Most bookings draw on the full range, but sets can be tailored to a particular decade if the event calls for it — a Great Gatsby themed wedding might focus on the 1920s and 30s, while a 1940s heritage or commemorative event calls for the wartime repertoire specifically. Get in touch to discuss what would work best for your occasion.
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Yes. Once booked, Kitty sends over her full repertoire list and you are welcome to choose your favourites. She can accommodate a small number of requests on the night and is happy to learn one song outside her usual repertoire for a special moment such as a first dance, quoted separately.
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Yes — this is one of the great strengths of the repertoire. The songs span enough decades that most guests will have a personal connection to at least some of them, whether through their parents or grandparents, through films, or simply through cultural osmosis. They are songs that have lasted because they are beautifully written, and they work for audiences of any age and background.
Enquire About Your Event
Whether you’re planning a wedding, a corporate dinner, a hotel programme or a heritage event, get in touch to discuss repertoire, format and availability. Kitty performs across the South of England and beyond.