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The Year of Tony Bennett

An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett

April 30, 2013 By Suzanne Leave a Comment

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. Ivie Anderson · Song · 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. Tony Bennett · Song · 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. Louis Armstrong · Song · 2000.

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

Filed Under: Music Tagged With: Bennett Sings Ellington: Hot & Cool, Clayton Cameron, Duke Ellington, International Jazz Day, It Don't Mean a Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing, Ivie Anderson, Louis Armstrong, The Great Summit

April 1, 2013 By Suzanne Leave a Comment

That Old Black Magic bossa nova style

One of the great Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer songs, That Old Black Magic was sung in the Tony Bennett – Dave Brubeck concert that will be released in May on Bennet & Brubeck: The White House Sessions Live 1962 CD. To my knowledge, this recording of Old Black Magic is the only song from that concert that has ever been released.

Here’s that recording of That Old Black Magic – bossa nova style.

That Old Black Magic

Listen to That Old Black Magic on Spotify. Dave Brubeck · Song · 2003.

Filed Under: Bennett & Brubeck -The White House Sessions Live 1962, Songs Tagged With: Bennett & Brubeck: The White House Concert Live 1962, Dave Brubeck, Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer

April 1, 2013 By Suzanne Leave a Comment

Tony Bennett and Dave Brubeck Concert Photograph

 Cecil Stoughton. White House Photographs. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston.
Cecil Stoughton. White House Photographs. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston.

This photograph from the August, 1962 concert shows (from left to right) Joe Morello (drums), Eugene Wright (bass). Dave Brubeck (piano) and Tony Bennett.

Filed Under: About His Collaborators, Albums, Bennett & Brubeck -The White House Sessions Live 1962 Tagged With: Bennett & Brubeck: The White House Sessions Live 1962, Eugene Wright, Joe Morello

April 1, 2013 By Suzanne Leave a Comment

Bennett and Brubeck Concert Album

Mark May 28 on your calendar, as the Bennett & Brubeck: The White House Sessions Live 1962 album will be released.

On August 28, 1962, at the invitation of President Kennedy, Tony Bennett and Dave Brubeck performed at the Sylvan Theater on the grounds of the Washington Monument in a concert to thank the many college students who had served as interns that summer.

This concert featured two sets: one by Tony Bennett and another by the Dave Brubeck Quartet. An unplanned finale had Bennett come out and sing several songs with the Brubeck quartet, including a bossa nova version of That Old Black Magic.

The recording of this concert had thought to be lost, but was discovered in the Sony vaults in December of last year, not long after Mr. Brubeck passed away.

The recording will be released by RPM/Columbia/Legacy. This story from the New York Times was released today.

Filed Under: Albums, Bennett & Brubeck -The White House Sessions Live 1962 Tagged With: Bennett & Brubeck: White House Sessions Live 1962, Dave Brubeck

February 20, 2013 By Suzanne Leave a Comment

Song of the Day: You Don’t Know What Love Is

The song of the day for Wednesday, February 20, 2013 is You Don’t Know What Love Is.

About You Don’t Know What Love Is

This song, a major jazz standard, did not have a promising start. Written by Don Raye and Gene DePaul, You Don’t Know What Love Is was written for the 1941 Abbott and Costello film Keep ‘Em Flying, but was cut from the film. It turned up in a 1942 short B musical movie, Behind the Eight Ball.

In spite of this, the song is a true jazz masterpiece, beginning with the 1954 Miles Davis recording on Walkin’. Other notable recordings are by Chet Baker, John Coltrane, Ella Fitzgerald, Anita O’Day and Billie Holiday among many others.

About This Version

Last summer, some tweeted that he was listening to Tony Bennett and Bill Evans and that the music was “bruised and beautiful.” I had much the same feeling today listening to Together Again, specifically You Don’t Know What Love Is.

All of the songs in Together Again, their second album after The Tony Bennett Bill Evans Album, were recorded in September 1976. Critics are split on which of their albums is the best. I love them both, but Together Again is my favorite.  For me, it has deeper, less guarded and more emotional substance from both artists.  When I really listen to this song, as I did today, the pain of the loss is so raw and every nerve is exposed.

I have read that Evans and Bennett did some eighteen takes of this song. Wow.  Just wow.

You Don"t Know What Love Is

Listen to You Don"t Know What Love Is on Spotify. Bill Evans · Song · 2004.

You Don’t Know What Love Is, as well as the remastered Together Again, is available from iTunes.

Filed Under: Songs Tagged With: Bill Evans, Don Raye, Gene DePaul

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