• Home
  • About
    • About This Blog
    • About the Authors
  • Song of the Day
  • Album of the Week
  • Music and Art
    • Tony Live!
    • Music
      • Viva Duets
      • Songs
      • Albums
    • Art
  • And More
    • Collaborator of the Month
    • Songwriter of the Month – 2016
    • News
      • Cheek To Cheek
      • Bennett & Brubeck -The White House Sessions Live 1962
      • Life is a Gift
      • Viva Duets
      • Zen of Bennett
      • Other News
    • About His Collaborators
    • Musings
    • Extras
      • Books
      • Interviews
      • Media
  • The Interactive Tony Bennett Discography

The Year of Tony Bennett

An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett

January 25, 2023 By Suzanne Leave a Comment

Song of the Day: Prelude To A Kiss

The song of the day for Thursday, January 26, 2023, is “Prelude To A Kiss.”

About This Song

“Prelude To A Kiss” was written in 1938 by Duke Ellington, with lyrics by Irving Gordon and Irving Mills. Ted Gioia in The Jazz Standards notes that in the late 1930s, having practically invented swing music:

… at this juncture he does the exact opposite. The Duke uses his fame and great artistic freedom to become more ambitious, more experimental, less beholden to the formulas of swing music. … ‘Prelude To A Kiss’ from 1938 is a case in point.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “Prelude To A Kiss” in May 1999 for Bennett Sings Ellington Hot & Cool. Featured on this recording are Gray Sargent on guitar and Joel Smirnoff on violin.

“Prelude To A Kiss,” as well as Bennett Sings Ellington: Hot & Cool is available on Apple Music.

Here’s Ellington’s first recording of “Prelude To A Kiss,” an instrumental, featuring the impeccable Johnny Hodges:

Share this:

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Tumblr
  • Print
  • More
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit

Filed Under: Song of the Day Tagged With: Bennett Sings Ellington: Hot & Cool, Duke Ellington, Gray Sargent, Irving Gordon, Irving Mills, Joel Smirnoff, Ted Gioia, Tony Bennett

Please feel free to leave a comment Cancel reply

Subscribe to The Year of Tony Bennett

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Current Reader Favorites

  • Song of the Day: How Do You Keep The Music Playing?
  • Song of the Day: Where Do You Start
  • Song of the Day: La Vie En Rose
  • Song of the Day: Let The Good Times Roll
  • Song of the Day: Exactly Like You
  • Duke Ellington and the Harlem Renaissance
  • Home
  • About
  • Song of the Day
  • Album of the Week
  • Music and Art
  • And More
  • The Interactive Tony Bennett Discography

Copyright © 2023 The Year of Tony Bennett · Genesis Framework by StudioPress · WordPress