TJL Productions announced that BIG BAND VOCALISTS, the latest installment of the popular MY MUSIC series, will premiere on PBS stations nationwide March 3, 2012. Hosted by Nick Clooney (whose sister, Rosemary Clooney, is among those featured on the show) and Peter Marshall, BIG BAND VOCALISTS showcases the timeless “crooners and canaries” of the 1940s when they started their careers performing with orchestras and dance bands, before they became stars on their own.

Featuring rare archival film footage not seen in years, this nostalgic look back offers romantic favorites from an all-star roster of legendary artists including The Andrews Sisters, Louis Armstrong, Perry Como,Doris Day, Helen Forrest, Dick Haymes, Peggy Lee, Dinah Shore, Kate Smith, Jo Stafford & The Pied Pipers and many more.

Among the classic World War II era bands backing up these iconic voices are groups led by Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Harry James and Stan Kenton. ”This music has never gone away and these singers are the reason why,” says co-host Nick Clooney. ”They are the finest popular vocalists we’ve ever known.”

Highlights include Doris Day singing “It’s Magic” in her film debut, ‘Romance on the High Seas’, which received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song; the earliest known footage of Peggy Lee with a big band, singing “Why Don’t You Do Right”; and a rousing rendition of “God Bless America” delivered by Kate Smith.

As a companion to the television special, MY MUSIC executive producer TJ Lubinsky has also compiled a new CD collection of Big Band favorites exclusively for PBS. The 5-CD set, available exclusively at PBS.org, offers three volumes of the most popular singers from the era – original classics mastered from first generation tapes – plus two discs featuring new stereo orchestra recordings of timeless Big Band hits.

BIG BAND VOCALISTS: MY MUSIC premieres March 3, 2012 at 8:00 p.m. on PBS nationwide and airs throughout the March pledge period.  Check local listings for stations and times.

The article BIG BAND VOCALISTS: MY MUSIC to Premiere on PBS in March appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

Oscar-winning actor George Clooney has a surprising relationship with the ill-fated RMS Titanic, as will be revealed in an upcoming documentary.

It has been said that Sarah Clooney, a distant relative from County Laois, was the person responsible for making the carpets which lined the ship, and that Clooney will learn more about her story when he makes a visit to Ireland later this in year. His familial link will be detailed in Gabriel Murray’s documentary “George Clooney’s Irish Roots — The Real Descendants”, a pun on his latest film release.

The Belfast Telegraph first reported on this story, explaining that:

Sarah Clooney worked in the carpet factory in Abbeyleix owned by Ivo de Vesci. She had originally come from Dunamaggin, Co Kilkenny but moved to Abbeyleix after her family were evicted from their land.

Sarah kept in contact with the famous actor’s aunt, Rosemary Clooney, and the pair shared correspondence over many years.

It is worth noting that several members of Clooney’s family have achieved notoriety in their own right. Aside from his aforementioned aunt who won both an Emmy and a Grammy award during her career, his father Nick Clooney has run for Congress while his cousin Miguel Ferrer has starred in such films as Robocop and Mulan.

As for Clooney’s Irish ancestors, the documentary, which is expected to finish production in the coming months, will provide further insight into those who have lived – and who still do – in Ireland. Alleged “parish records” have been discovered, in which full details of Clooney’s ancestry are noted, however, the exact extent of this information will not be revealed until Murray’s documentary airs later this year.

Incidentally, Clooney had told The Irish Examiner as recently as last October that he had plans of partaking in a bike tour across Ireland at some point in 2012, on the recommendation of U2 frontman Bono. Clooney said:

It’s finally happening … I ran into Bono here in Toronto, who was in town for the documentary about U2 and he’s as much of a bike nut as I am. He started telling me about lots of cool places I should check out, so I’ve committed to going there in April.

In the meantime, Clooney has plenty of professional business to keep him occupied as he attempts to win his second Oscar for Best Actor with the critically-acclaimed film The Descendants. Clooney has already won a Golden Globe and a Critic’s Choice Award this year for his role in the film as a man in the midst of his family’s collapse, and so it would seem fitting that he will dive right into his own personal family story once Hollywood’s 2012 awards season is at an end.

cinemafestival / Shutterstock.com

The article George Clooney’s Titanic Ancestry appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.