Radio Two opens The Great British Songbook.

Live London event to showcase new music initiative

Radio Two is to use a multi-artist showcase event in London next month as the launch platform for a new initiative celebrating great UK songwriters from the past five decades.

The BBC station will stage a second annual concert at The IndigO2 in North Greenwich on November 26 featuring five artists it has championed over the past few years.

Chris Evans will formally announce James Morrison as part of the line- up for Radio Two Live In London during his drivetime show this evening, while different station presenters will announce the other performers one by one over the course of the rest of this week.

All the acts performing at the event, which will be broadcast in a two- hour special by the station from 8pm the following evening, will not only perform some of their own recordings but also a song by a classic UK songwriter, marking the launch of a new station initiative called The Great British Songbook. This is set to become an integral part of the network going forward.

Radio Two head of music Jeff Smith, who is behind the idea, says, "All of the artists on this night will be asked to cover a great British song and the idea is we are effectively creating a landmark collection of recordings by acts from the UK and all over the world of their versions of great British songs from great British songwriters.

"Everybody talks about the ...