JT vocal jazz columnist blogs on the canon for singersQUOTE:
But I have to quibble with such restrictive parameters. If 1960 (or so) is the cutoff, is most of the marvelous work of Cy Coleman to be omitted? What of Alan and Marilyn Bergman, Johnny Mandel, Bacharach & David and Stephen Sondheim?
And that’s just the tip of the post-1960 iceberg, representing composers and lyricists who, by and large, carried the torch lit by Porter, Berlin and such. What about those who, from the dawn of the rock ‘n’ roll era onward, have further defined the art of songwriting? Are they less “great” than their predecessors?
I’d argue that Lieber & Stoller, Bob Dylan, Gerry Goffin, Carole King, James Taylor, Paul Simon, Donald Fagen, Stevie Wonder, Jimmy Webb, Brian Wilson, Janis Joplin and Tom Waits, to name but a few, are equally deserving of inclusion;
02/08/10 Christopher Loudon
http://jazztimes.com/articles/25733-defining-the-great-american-songbook
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