The Year of Tony Bennett

An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett

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An Arts Education Success Story

Tony Bennett is one our country’s most important spokesmen for the value of an arts education for public school students. One of his most important accomplishments is the Exploring The Arts Foundation, founded by Mr. Bennett and his wife, Susan Benedetto.  The foundation created the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts in Astoria, NY and now in the process of creating partner schools in Los Angeles.  You can read more about the programs in Los Angeles here. The Exploring the Arts website can be found here.

In his recent book, Life is a Gift, Mr. Bennett makes this observation:

Studies have shown that students with high arts involvement perform better in school, do more community service activities, and have higher graduation rates, so it’s very important for kids to be involved in the arts–from drama, dance, vocals and instrumental music to film and fine arts.

Over the years, we have had some of the highest graduation rates and percentages of kids going off to college–not only by New York City standards, but nationwide, with an average graduation rate of 95 percent and 85 percent going on to a four-year college.

This has recently been proven at a K-8 school in Roxbury, Massachusetts. Originally planned as an arts school, instead the instruments were locked up and the school experienced violence and problems from the beginning; by 2010 it ranked in the bottom five of all public schools in the state of Massachusetts.

And then a new principal — the sixth principal in seven years — fired all the security guards and hired arts teachers instead.

His success was remarkable: within three years the school has experienced a complete turnaround. You can read the details of this amazing transformation on the NBC News website.  The video at the end of the story is from tonight’s NBC Nightly News.

The Year of Tony Bennett supports Exploring the Arts and we hope that you will consider supporting this organization as well.

 

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Tony Bennett Receives Distinguished Artistic Leadership Award

The Atlantic Council presented its top global leadership awards this evening to the following notable persons:

  • Hillary Rodham Clinton, Former US Secretary of State, received the Distinguished International Leadership Award.
  • Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Secretary General of NATO, also received the Distinguished International Leadership Award.
  • John S. Watson, Chairman and CEO of Chevron, received the Distinguished Business Leadership Award.
  • Tony Bennett, Performer and Humanitarian, received the Distinguished Artistic Leadership Award.
  • Juanes, Musician and Social Activist, received the Distinguished Humanitarian Leadership Award.

The Atlantic Council is a non-partisan institution with a mission to promote transatlantic cooperation and international security. Now in its 50th year, the Atlantic Council is addressing problems including challenges from violent extremism, financial instability, energy security and future of the North American Treaty Organization (NATO). You can read more about their mission, history and activities at their website.

The Year of Tony Bennett congratulates Mr. Bennett on his receipt of this award. As a performer, painter, author and humanitarian, we cannot think of anyone who more exemplifies leadership in the Arts.

Some tweets from the awards ceremony:

(note: Hillary Clinton was introduced by Henry Kissinger)

Barbara Slavin on X (formerly Twitter): "Henry Kissinger is the Tony Bennet of diplomcy and Tony Bennet is the Kissinger of music says Hillary Clinton #acawards / X"

Henry Kissinger is the Tony Bennet of diplomcy and Tony Bennet is the Kissinger of music says Hillary Clinton #acawards

Wajahat Ali on X (formerly Twitter): "Tony Bennett keeping it light and funny. Dude is still sharp at 80+ . Will be performing later with Juanes. / X"

Tony Bennett keeping it light and funny. Dude is still sharp at 80+ . Will be performing later with Juanes.

Atlantic Council on X (formerly Twitter): "@itstonybennett is performing a duet of "Shadow of your Smile" with @juanes to close out the Council"s Distinguished Awards Dinner #ACAwards / X"

@itstonybennett is performing a duet of "Shadow of your Smile" with @juanes to close out the Council"s Distinguished Awards Dinner #ACAwards

 

 

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Song of the Day: Solitude

As we continue our celebration of the life and music of Duke Ellington this week, the song of the day for Wednesday, May 1, 2013 is Solitude.

About This Song

You might be forgiven for thinking that one of Duke Ellington’s most beautiful songs must have a few days or even weeks to write. But Duke Ellington once said, famously, that “I don’t need time; I need a deadline.” And, in fact, Solitude was written at its first recording session when Ellington found himself in need an extra number. He wrote it twenty minutes standing up against the glass enclosure at the RCA recording studio in Chicago (Al Gioia, Jazz Standards, page 378).

Written in 1934, (In My) Solitude is one of his most beloved (and most recorded) songs. Originally recorded as an instrumental in 1934, the lyrics were later added by Eddie DeLange and Irving Mills. Ellington himself recorded this song over 100 times, and it is a jazz classic recorded by performers including Paul Robeson, Billie Holiday, Nina Simone and Ella Fitzgerald, among many others.

About This Version

Tony Bennett has recorded Solitude several times, the first being with Count Basie for his 1959 album In Person! and most recently for his 1999 album Bennett Sings Ellington: Hot & Cool.

Today’s version is from his 1962 Carnegie Hall concert. In a remarkable performance of 44 songs that night, Solitude was his 34th song that night. Following a spirited version of Chicago, Solitude starts gently and quietly, with Bennett touching the opening notes lightly and building to an emotionally powerful ending. The orchestration, featuring the work of Eddie Costa on vibes at the beginning, then adding strings and finally with the full orchestra is perfect for Bennett’s arc in the song. Or, to put it simply, it’s really, really good.

http://open.spotify.com/track/66xcBH2f8VNVIcwP0HRFPe
Solitude, as well as the full Tony Bennett at Carnegie Hall album, is available from iTunes.

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Duke Ellington in the 1950s

Welcome back to our exploration of the musical career of the great Duke Ellington.

In a story that is not unfamiliar to fans of Tony Bennett, Duke Ellington found his style of music falling out of favor at beginning of the 1950s. In 1951, he saw the departure of some of his most valuable musicians from his orchestra, including Sonny Greer and Johnny Hodges. Even though he was able to keep the orchestra together, times were tough and the once-popular Ellington found himself booking one-night stands to keep going. Though he found some success in the reissues of earlier material on the “new” long-playing record albums, by 1955 the great Duke Ellington found himself without a record contract and playing background music for an ice  show in Flushing.

The summer of 1956 found Ellington invited by George Wein to perform at the Newport Jazz Festival. What happened on the evening of July 7, 1956 was a legendary performance that is still being talked about today. Duke and his orchestra had played a nicely received set, including a special composition created specifically for the festival. As the night drew towards an end — local statutes required that the music be ended by midnight — Duke Ellington announced that their next number would be an old number from 1937: Dimenuendo and Crescendo in Blue, with an “interval” by tenor saxophonist Paul Gonsalves.

What followed was, to many (including this author), the greatest live jazz performance ever recorded. The Gonsalves interval ran for 27 choruses of virtuoso playing: 14 minutes of incredible, perfect jazz. George Avakian wrote these liner notes for the record of this performance:

Throughout the performance there were frequent bursts of wild dancing and literally acres of people stood on their chairs, cheering and clapping. There were 7,000 people there and by halfway through his solo it had become an enormous single living organism, reacting in waves like huge ripples to the music played before it.

From this concert came his most successful album ever, Ellington at Newport. Originally a single LP, there was a double-CD re-release in 1999 that also included stage announcements and other material. In fact, the track after Dimenuendo and Crescendo in Blue is labeled Announcements, Pandemonium (Live).

And here is that legendary performance:
http://open.spotify.com/track/6Rwf6zMFGJsPkg5G3aJqYx

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Happy International Jazz Day!

Today, April 30, is International Jazz Day. You can read all about the jazz activities all over the world today, especially in this year’s host city, Istanbul (where Tony Bennett had a very successful concert last sumer), at the Official International Jazz Day website.

Here at the Year of Tony Bennett, our celebration is a bit smaller, but no less heartfelt. And, as we are honoring Duke Ellington this week, we’ve chosen three great recordings of Ellington’s It Don’t Mean A Thing (If It Aint’ Got That Swing) for our readers and listeners. Why? Because it’s one of my favorite songs and I absolutely love all three of these recordings. And, they do exhibit not only a purity of the song, but also of the mores of their time in jazz. For this author, these three recordings are a mini-history of jazz.

Ellington wrote this song in 1931 during intermissions at club dates in Chicago. The song was first recorded in 1932, with vocals by Ivie Anderson and instrumental solos by Joe Nanton (trombone) and Johnny Hodges (alto sax). Here’s Ivie Anderson singing this song:

It Don"t Mean A Thing (If I Ain"t Got That Swing)

Listen to It Don"t Mean A Thing (If I Ain"t Got That Swing) on Spotify. Song · Ivie Anderson · 2001

Tony Bennett has performed and recorded this song throughout his career; I am partial to this version from his 1999 album, Bennett Sings Ellington: Hot & Cool. Clayton Cameron on drums …

It Don"t Mean A Thing (If It Ain"t Got That Swing)

Listen to It Don"t Mean A Thing (If It Ain"t Got That Swing) on Spotify. Song · Tony Bennett · 1999

And, to finish off this trio, Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong from 1961 The Great Summit.

It Don"t Mean a Thing (If It Ain"t Got That Swing) - 1990 Remaster

Listen to It Don"t Mean a Thing (If It Ain"t Got That Swing) - 1990 Remaster on Spotify. Song · Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington · 2000

Just remember: it really don’t mean a thing if ain’t got that swing.