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All The Dates For The Britannia Series: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavy_Metal_Britannia

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Paolo Nutini : Nature Boy Melody Gardot : Preamble Melody Gardot : Someday My Prince Will Come Melody Gardot : Get Out Of Town Melody Gardot : Over The Rainbow Claire Martin : Preamble Claire Martin : Cheek To Cheek Claire Martin : The Lady Is A Tramp José James : Preamble José James : Just Squeeze Me Sharleen Spiteri : Preamble Sharleen Spiteri : God Bless The Child Sharleen Spiteri : September In The Rain Krystle Warren : Preamble Krystle Warren : Love For Sale Krystle Warren : A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square Gwyneth Herbert : Preamble Gwyneth Herbert : Love Me Or Leave Me Paolo Nutini : Preamble Paolo Nutini : I'd Rather Go Blind Paolo Nutini : Preamble Paolo Nutini : Buono Sera

An eclectic variety of artists gather at Air studios in London to perform their interpretations of the classic and timeless songs of the Great American Songbook. Among those performing are Paolo Nutini, Melody Gardot, Claire Martin, Sharleen Spiteri, Gwyneth Herbert, Jose James and Krystle Warren. The Great American Songbook BBC Four Session is a celebration of the music and popular songs of famous and prolific American composers from the Twenties onwards. Composers such as Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Johnny Mercer, Harold Arlen, Rogers and Hammerstein and Hoagy Carmichael wrote the tunes for Broadway theatre and Hollywood musicals that earned enduring popularity before the dawning of rock 'n' roll. These famous songwriters penned songs, best described as "standards", which have entered the general consciousness. Tunes that every musician and singer aspires to include in their repertoire, such as Over The Rainbow, Cheek To Cheek, Bye Bye Blackbird, Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye, Lush Life, That Old Black Magic and The Lady Is A Tramp can all be heard tonight.

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They have voices that make you weep, songs of heartbreak and betrayal, lives that seem to mirror their music and deaths that came too soon and made myths of them all. Yet their voices triumph over tragedy. They are icons of the 20th century - the Queens of Heartache. Edith Piaf, the Urchin Queen, stood small but strong and became the voice of her nation and of everyone who ever made mistakes. Billie Holiday, the Jazz Queen, her voice full of pain and yearning. Judy Garland, Showbiz Queen, raised in the film studio that fed her addiction to pills and to fame. Maria Callas, Drama Queen, whose voice brought out the heartache in opera and whose life echoed the roles she played. And Janis Joplin, Wild Queen, who offered up a 'piece of her heart' and died of drug abuse at just 27. With contributions from Mickey Rooney, Charles Aznavour, Country Joe McDonald, KT Tunstall, Katie Melua and Corinne Bailey-Rae.

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Roll over Beethoven: The Chess Records Saga (from BBC website) Chicago's Chess Records was one of the greatest labels of the post-war era, ranking alongside other mighty independents like Atlantic, Stax and Sun. From 1950 till its demise at the end of the 60s, Chess released a myriad of electric blues, rock 'n' roll and soul classics that helped change the landscape of black and white popular music. Chess was the label that gave the world such sonic adventurers as Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley, Howlin' Wolf and Etta James. In this documentary to mark the label's 60th anniversary, the likes of Jimmy Page, Mick Hucknall, Public Enemy's Chuck D, Paul Jones and Little Steven, as well as those attached to the label such as founder's son Marshall Chess, pay tribute to its extraordinary music and influence. The documentary reveals how two Polish immigrants, Leonard and Phil Chess, forged friendships with black musicians in late 1940s Chicago, shrewdly building a speciality blues label into a huge independent worth millions by the end of the 1960s. Full of vivid period detail, it places the Chess story within a wider social and historical context - as well as being about some of the greatest music ever recorded, it is, inevitably, about race in America during these tumultuous times. total run time: 00:59:24 http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00vv0zz

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Dennis Wilson was the drummer in the Beach Boys. And he was the real Beach Boy. In a band of geeks who sang about surfing, cars and girls, Dennis was the only one who surfed, the one who drove hot rod cars in competition and the one who got all the girls. He was married five times, shared a house with Charles Manson (with whom he wrote songs, including one recorded by the Beach Boys) but died, ironically by drowning, at the age of 39. He was also the first Beach Boy to release a solo album, the stunning Pacific Ocean Blue, which after years of being out of print and fetching hundreds on Ebay, was re-released in 2008 to widespread acclaim, being voted No 1 Reissue of the Year by Mojo and Uncut magazines. This documentary tells the story of Dennis's life and music, with unseen archive footage and original interviews with Beach Boys Al Jardine and David Marks, his sons Michael and Carl and many friends and fellow musicians. These include Taylor Hawkins, drummer with the Foo Fighters who provided a vocal for the lost track on Pacific Ocean Blue, Holy Man, for which Dennis never laid down a vocal when he recorded the song in 1977.

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In the 1960s, a small indie label would conquer American music. With artists like the Doors, Love, Tim Buckley, the Incredible String Band and the Stooges, Elektra Records was consistently on the cutting edge, having built its name initially with folk revival artists like Judy Collins and Tom Paxton, signed out of Greenwich Village. Elektra was run by suave visionary Jac Holzman and this is his story. Featuring contributions from Jackson Browne, Iggy Pop, Judy Collins and choice BBC archive.

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A documentary television series broadcast on BBC Two, narrated by Mark Radcliffe and first broadcast on 1 May 2010. The series charts the history of rock music, with the first five episodes focusing on different members of a typical band, such as the singer or the guitarist.

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The Lady Is A Tramp-Shirley Bassey 1966 My Funny Valentine-Sammy Davis Jnr 1963 Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye-Ella Fitzgerald 1965 Makin' Whoopee-Harry Nilsson 1973 Something's Gotta Give Johnny Mercer 1974 Smoke Gets In Your Eyes-Bryan Ferry 1974 Call Me Irresponsible-Jack Jones 1976 Summertime-Larry Adler and Yitzhak Perlman Happy Talk-Captain Sensible 1982 That Ole Devil Called Love Again-Alison Moyet 1985 It Had To Be You-Harry Connick Jnr 1991 One For My Baby(One More For The Road)-Tony Bennett 1993 Miss Otis Regrets-Kirsty MacColl 1994 All Of Me-Jimmy Scott and Jools Holland 1999 Come Fly With Me-Michael Buble 2003 I Get A Kick Out Of You-Jamie Cullum 2004 Blues In The Night-Dr John 2006 Cheek To Cheek-Diana Krall 2009 My Baby Just Cares For Me-Florence and Jolls Holland 2009

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1959 was the seismic year jazz broke away from complex bebop music to new forms, allowing soloists unprecedented freedom to explore and express. It was also a pivotal year for America: the nation was finding its groove, enjoying undreamt-of freedom and wealth; social, racial and upheavals were just around the corner; and jazz was ahead of the curve. Four major jazz albums were made, each a high watermark for the artists and a powerful reflection of the times. Each opened up dramatic new possibilities for jazz which continue to be felt: Miles Davis, Kind of Blue; Dave Brubeck, Time Out; Charles Mingus, Mingus Ah Um; and Ornette Coleman, The Shape of Jazz to Come. Rarely seen archive performances help vibrantly bring the era to life and explore what made these albums vital both in 1959 and the 50 years since. The programme contains interviews with Lou Reed, Dave Brubeck, Ornette Coleman, Charlie Haden, Herbie Hancock, Joe Morello (Brubeck's drummer) and Jimmy Cobb (the only surviving member of Miles' band), along with a host of jazz movers and shakers from the 50s and beyond.

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