Jimmy Van Heusen - Swingin' with Frank & Bing

Jimmy Van Heusen – Swingin’ with Frank & Bing, produced and directed by Jim Burns for PBS, tells the story of the remarkable life and music of the four-time Oscar-winning songwriter whose musical genius produced dozens of classics for the Great American Songbook. Van Heusen’s collaboration with entertainment greats Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra resulted in all-time hits such as Swinging on a Star, Love and Marriage, High Hopes, All The Way and My Kind of Town. The film features excerpts from the classic Hollywood films that debuted Jimmy Van Heusen’s timeless songs, with comments by major film and music figures including Frank Sinatra, Jr., Tony Bennett, Harry Crosby, Shirley MacLaine, Woody Allen and others.

The film will be followed by Jim Burns and Brook Babcock, Jimmy Van Heusen’s grandnephew, presenting a discussion and rarely seen photos from the 1950s and 60s, when Jimmy Van Heusen and Bing Crosby built side-by-side homes in the uninhabited desert that would become the thriving Palm Desert community of today. Other photos depict the Palm Springs of the Jet Set era when Jimmy Van Heusen’s piano bar in the old Desert Inn was a playground for Crosby, Frank Sinatra and other Hollywood pals including Dean Martin, Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.

Cocktail hour will be from 6pm-7pm with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres.

Documentary screening will begin at 7pm followed by the Q&A.

No outside food or beverage allowed. Only service dogs allowed.

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Host or Publisher Coachella Valley Symphony