Every year New York's Lincoln Center hosts the Great American Songbook, a gathering of musicians meant to celebrate the traditional and the cutting edge in American music. This year's American Songbook series is especially intriguing, as it will feature such artists as multi-instrumentalist St. Vincent, Brooklyn experimental group Dirty Projectors, and neo-jazz piano imp Nellie McKay. Other treats will include Broadway veterans Martha Plimpton and Leslie Uggams, Dee Dee Bridgewater, a critically acclaimed jazz singer, folk artist Suzanne Vega, and two of the founding members of Los Lobos.

The Great American Songbook is composed of jazz standards, Broadway Musical fare, Tin Pan Alley songs and other music from 1920 to 1960. Major songwriters who have been included in the GAS include Irving Berlin, Hogey Carmichael, Duke Ellington, Rogers and Hammerstein and the Gershwins. The Songbook was standard fare for performers such as Ella Fitzgerald, Perry Como, the Rat Pack, Bing Crosby, and Wayne Newton. However, contemporary artists, especially those not necessarily associated with the vernacular of jazz and Broadway, have experimented with the Songbook's repertoire. In 1978, country music granddaddy and stoner icon Willie Nelson recorded Stardust, a collection of early popular standards. Rod Stewart, the man with the longest running bad coiffure in hair history, has essentially changed his image from hard rocker to modern day crooner, releasing a series of studio albums wholly composed of Songbook material. Harry Nilsson, Rufus Wainwright, and Queen Latifah have all been known to perform and record material drawn from this source as well.

As with the Songbook itself, there seems to be no written code as to who is invited to perform at the Lincoln Center's annual GAS showcase or why. While Nellie McKay will be interpreting the works of Doris Day, Los Lobos have been invited to perform this year, due to their popularization of Latin roots-rock. Indie pop/rock has a place alongside Broadway standards, and the experimental will be just as an important component of the concert series as the traditional.

The season will run January 13th through March 6th. Tickets may be purchased at AmericanSongbook.org.