An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett
The Year of Tony Bennett wishes Lady Gaga a fantastic birthday. We hope she’s recovering well from her surgery and wish her the very best. We can hardly wait for her album with Tony and know it’s going to be a huge hit for them both.
To put us all in a great mood, here’s the video of The Lady is a Tramp. We note that this video has had well over 10 million views on YouTube. And for good reason.
The Year of Tony Bennett wishes Marian McPartland a very happy 95th birthday.
Her Piano Jazz program on NPR has nurtured and created an entire generation of jazz fans, including this author. And her outstanding gifts as a jazz pianist are, thankfully, available to us to enjoy over and over, even those of us who were never able to hear her at the Hickory House.
Here’s a number from Tony Bennett’s Live with the McPartlands and Friends from 1977 on Tony’s Improv label.
The Year of Tony Bennett is proud to honor the great Harold Arlen all next week, beginning with the song of the day for Sunday, February 10, 2013.
Harold Arlen was born on February 15, 1905 in Buffalo, New York. For detailed information about Harold Arlen and his career in film and on Broadway, we refer you to the The Official Harold Arlen Website, a wonderful website run by Arlen’s son Samuel.
For the next seven days, we will be featuring songs written by Harold Arlen as sung by Tony Bennett. This page from The Official Harold Arlen Website lists all of Tony Bennett’s recordings of Harold Arlen songs.
The Year of Tony Bennett would like to wish Natalie Cole a very happy birthday today, February 6.
Let’s celebrate by listening to one of her wonderful duets with Tony Bennett: Stormy Weather from Bennett’s delightful Playin’ With My Friends, released in 2001.
Stormy Weather was written by the great Harold Arlen (and keep your ears open for Harold Arlen on the blog next week) and Ted Koehler in 1933. It was originally sung by the great Ethel Waters at the Cotton Club and was recorded by her in the same year. The list of great recordings of this song is long: Sarah Vaughan, Etta James, Django Reinhardt, Judy Garland and, of course, Miss Lena Horne.
Happy Birthday, Natalie!
We are big fans of Antonia Bennett and enjoy hearing her sing with her Dad at concerts.
Miss Bennett also has her own solo recording career. Here she is singing “Always Here,” courtesy of SXSW (South By Southwest) 2011.