Late last Friday evening, I got an email from DownBeat Magazine with a link to their July, 2014 edition. The cover grabbed me right away …
DownBeat insists that the items in the list are numbered but not ranked. Still, Tony Bennett is the number one on the list of the 80 coolest things about jazz.
It’s a beautiful issue and is, as Downbeat suggests, a collector’s item.
Here are a few quotes from their write-up about Tony Bennett, the first of the ten living jazz masters:
At 87, Tony Bennett is as cool as he’s ever been–maybe even cooler.
Today, Bennett is unstinting in his praise for younger singers like the late Amy Winehouse (“a true jazz singer”) and Lady Gaga, with whom he’s recorded a full album to be released in the fall (“I think she’s going to surprise everybody”).
Bennett’s whole game, he said, “is to try to do definitive versions of great standards. And I’m not really interested in doing anything except making the public feel the song that I’m singing.”
Tony Bennett also took out a very nice full-page ad, featuring the recent water-color portrait of him by Everett Raymond Kinstler, that pays homage to the great musicians he’s worked with over his career.
This man is a living legend! He is like fine wine and gets better with age.
Yes my friend Tony is the greatest
Yes, He is my friend also. I have the highest respect for Tony Bennett. To me he is the greatest vocal artist in the musical Jazz world. We met in Las Vegas July 9th, 1971. I watched his whole show side curtain at a young age of 22 and did I get an education? His spirit rubbed off on me. He has conquered his craft by singing every word from his heart and as the whole world knows when he performs live or when you hear his remarkable recordings he delivers with true affectionate feelings. His fans respond to him like flowers to sunshine. I am so lucky to have met him !!! Tony Bennett will always be COOL!!!
Hello Tony,
I agree with you completely.
And thanks for reading the blog. Hope you come back often. I’m also working on his discography at http://discography.bloggingtonybennett.com. I think you might find it interesting.
Best regards,
Suzanne
I know him and love him.First saw him in 1969.I was a young singer looking to find some sort of style.
He showed me.Sing up and out.Dynamic yet sensitive.His concerts and recordings reflect truth,
excitement,class – you feel he is singing directly to you.When I see him,he asks Hey Dave,hows the singing?
Hi Dave. Thanks for sharing your story. Are you planning to see him in September when he’s in London? I’ll be seeing in here in Portland, Oregon in November. Best, Suzanne