The Year of Tony Bennett

An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett

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Tony Bennett: The Complete Collection

As soon as this collection was announced, I knew I had to have it. As a latecomer to the music of Tony Bennett, so many of his earlier albums had gone out print. And so I bought myself this wonderful collection for myself.

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The set contains music from Columbia, Verve, Improv (Tony’s label) and back again to Columbia. There are two CDs of “Rarities, Outtakes and Other Delights” which include a recording of Tony singing “St.  James Infirmary Blues” when he was a member of the 314th Army Special Services Band as World War II wound down. There are six CDs of the singles that he recorded for Columbia, including his first hit “The Boulevard of Broken Dreams”. The set contains 74(!) CDs and 3 DVDs.

As of this past weekend, I have added all 74 CDs to my iPod, where they join other CDs that I’d previously purchased, including the Complete Improv recordings, Jazz, and numerous others. Now the CDs are back to being safe and sound in that beautiful box. Just for kicks: iTunes shows 6.38 GB for Tony Bennett — 1289 items — 2.7 days of listening without repeats.

Album reviews to follow.

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Unboxing The Complete Tony Bennett Bill Evans LP Box Set

I finally broke down and ordered the new Complete Tony Bennett Bill Evans Box Set on 180-gram vinyl. It was waiting for me when I got home from work on Friday and I took a few snapshots.

First is the lovely glossy cover on the box:

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When you open the box, the first thing you see is the beautiful 12-page liner notes with Will Friedwald’s excellent essay and some wonderful photographs. On the back of the liner notes is this great collage. I especially like the engineer’s sheets and the 8-track tape. I used to have an 8-track tape player in my first car, a blue VW Beetle.

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Then there is this nice print of Tony and Bill. I think I’ll be finding a frame for this.

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There are four LPs in the set. One for The Tony Bennett Bill Evans Album and another for Together Again. The remaining two LPs are outtakes and bonus tracks. Here’s one of the covers:

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On the back of each album are these great photographs from the sessions in contact sheets:

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Here’s a close-up of one the photographs I liked, complete with a suggestion for cropping the photo:

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And, finally, the back of the box:

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This set is real class act. Concord Records did an outstanding job of packaging this set.

Alas, I don’t have a turntable anymore, though I am seriously considering buying one now. But my brother is an audiophile with a state-of-the-art system, so I’m sure I’ll be heading over to his house soon for a listen.

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Major Release on iTunes

Tony Bennett announced today that all of his catalog, as presented in last year’s Complete Collection, is now available on iTunes.  This is an extraordinary collection  that even includes six CDs of his singles for Columbia, dating back to 1950.

Most of these albums have been unavailable for some time, other than in the Complete Collection. This release is a chance for fans of Tony Bennett to add to their collection. They are priced nicely too, at $7.99 each.

The iBooks version of Life is a Gift and the documentary film The Zen of Bennett may also be purchased from iTunes as well.

I’ll follow up later with a definitive list of the albums included. You can view the Tony Bennett page on iTunes.

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The Complete Tony Bennett / Bill Evans Recordings for Audiophiles

I received DownBeat magazine yesterday and learned about an exciting new release of The Complete Tony Bennett / Bill Evans Recordings on 180-gram vinyl.

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The box set consists of 4 LPs: the two original albums, plus 2 LPs of bonus tracks. It also includes a 12-page booklet with photos and the excellent Will Friedwald liner notes.

The box set is available for pre-ordering from Amazon and will be released on April 28, 2015. It’s not inexpensive at $110, but if you have the right equipment and, perhaps, a nice tax refund coming your way, it’s probably worth the price.

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Why The Year of Tony Bennett?

I have had the great fortune to see Mr. Bennett live in concert several times. My first concert was in Seattle in September, 2007 at Seattle’s Paramount Theatre and it was wonderful.  Then there was a bit of a wait until his performance in my home city of Portland, Oregon in May, 2011. Both of these concerts I attended alone.

Next up, though, Mr. Bennett was scheduled again in Seattle at the Paramount Theatre in December, 2011. This time I invited my best friend and co-blogger, Lesley, to join me. I’ll let her tell her own story of her introduction to the music of Tony Bennett, but it was a wonderful evening.

And thus started The Year of Tony Bennett. We were surprised and happy to find that Mr. Bennett would be visiting the Spirit Mountain Casino in February, 2012 and off we were to that concert. We had such a great time that we decided that we would try really hard to see him one more time in 2012.

That opportunity soon presented himself with an outdoor concert in San Diego in September 2012: the week of my birthday. It was a no-brainer. Next it turns out that he’ll be at the Monterey Jazz Festival the night before. Why not? Jazz Festival tickets booked … a grand weekend of the MJF and the San Diego concert … what better way to celebrate my upcoming birthday?

The icing on this particular cake will be his appearance at Seattle’s Bumbershoot Festival on Labor Day weekend. This time, we’re taking Lesley’s ten-year-old son who, by virtue of listening to Tony Bennett’s music in his mother’s car, is now a fan. This will be his first concert.

Not to mention my purchase of the Complete Collection, which I am exploring with awe and wonder and joy.

Here’s a short video about the Complete Collection. It’s available for purchase at www.tonybennett.com.

Thank you, Tony.

Suzanne

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