The Year of Tony Bennett

An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett

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Song of the Day: Lazy Afternoon

The song of the day for Wednesday, June 25, 2014 is “Lazy Afternoon.”

About This Song

“Lazy Afternoon” is from the 1954 Broadway musical The Golden Apple, with music by Jerome Moross and lyrics by John LaTouche. The musical is modern retelling of parts of The Iliad and The Odyssey and is set in Washington State at Mt. Olympus. “Lazy Afternoon” was introduced by Kaye Ballard and Jonathan Lucas.

About This Version

Tony Bennett first recorded “Lazy Afternoon” on his second jazz album The Beat of My Heart. Today’s version, though, is from his legendary 1962 concert at Carnegie Hall. I can’t think of a much better song on a warm summer day than this.

http://open.spotify.com/track/2EyE7Vrfj2A8LDtyAHR06l
“Lazy Afternoon,” as well Tony Bennett at Carnegie Hall, is available from iTunes.

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Song of the Day: It Amazes Me

The song of the day for Saturday, August 3, 2013 is “It Amazes Me.”

About This Song

“It Amazes Me” was written by Cy Coleman and Carolyn Leigh in 1958. While Coleman and Leigh composed the scores for a number of very good Broadway musicals, including Sweet Charity, they also wrote many stand-alone songs, including this one.

About This Version

Tony Bennett first recorded “It Amazes Me” in 1958 for Long Ago and Far Away. However, today’s version is from his 1962 concert at Carnegie Hall.

While I was driving home from the office this evening, I was listening to the Carnegie Hall concert on the car stereo. At a long stop light, “It Amazes Me” began to play and it was as if I was really hearing it for the first time. This happens to us every so often; a song that we listened to and loved suddenly sounds completely new, as we hear things we never heard before. And what I heard this afternoon was a perfect performance of a very fine song.

More and more I am struck by Bennett’s perfect diction and phrasing and this is so evident in “It Amazes Me.” We hear each word perfectly, but it’s not forced, it grows out of the performance and is so natural. (My true test for any singer is “The Man That Got Away” and ‘tomorrow he may turn up.” For too many singers, it comes out “tomorrow he may turnip.” Bennett passes this test with flying colors, even at the emotional dramatic peak of the song.)

Aided by a subtle and lovely arrangement by Ralph Sharon, I hear the amazement and wonder and awe in this delivery. And it speaks to the great versatility of the performer Tony Bennett. He can deliver big, emotional dramatic songs and I love those. But equally I love this side: the precise, quiet delivery where each note, each syllable, each phrase is perfect … and still with that thing that nobody else I’ve ever heard can do: singing a song so perfectly while it sounds as if it’s being written at that moment. Never rote, with all the joy of discovery of wonder in a song.

All I can say is that this song amazes me. Every time. As if it were the first time.

http://open.spotify.com/track/2WxNwCHOfSARBRGpKhFbgW
“It Amazes Me,” as well as the complete Tony Bennett at Carnegie Hall concert album, is available from iTunes.

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Song of the Day: All The Things You Are

The song of the day for Friday, July 12, 2013 is “All The Things You Are.”

We choose this song today to honor this song’s lyricist, Oscar Hammerstein, who was born on this day in 1895 and died on August 23, 1960.

About Oscar Hammerstein

Oscar Hammerstein II was born into a prominent American theatrical family. His grandfather, Oscar Hammerstein I, was a theater impresario and his father was a theatrical producer and theater manager. Oscar Hammerstein attended Columbia University as an undergraduate and Columbia Law School as well. However, he left law school to start his theater career.

His first significant piece was the book and lyrics for the 1927 Show Boat, written with Jerome Kern. Show Boat was said to have revolutionized the American musical, with the songs and dances not only arising from the plot, but also furthering the plot and the character development. After Show Boat, he continued to work with Kern on several lesser musicals, including the show that gave us our song of the day, Very Warm For May.

Hammerstein is best remembered for his extraordinary association with Richard Rodgers, which began with Oklahoma in 1943. As with Show Boat, Oklahoma further revolutionized American musical theater with a deeper integration of the book and music. due in large part to Hammerstein writing both the book and the lyrics for the productions he worked on.

The partnership with Rodgers lasted until Hammerstein’s death in 1960 and brought us some of America’s greatest musicals: Carousel, The King and I, South Pacific and The Sound Of Music. Hammerstein passed away shortly after The Sound Of Music opened.

In addition to his writing, Oscar Hammerstein was on the boards of several professional associations including the Dramatists Guild and the Screen Writers Guild. He won two Pulitzer Prizes, two Academy Awards and five Tony Awards. He was a philanthropist as well.

Oscar Hammerstein was also a mentor to the neighborhood son of one his friends, a young Stephen Sondheim.

About This Song

Written for the 1939 Broadway music Very Warm for May, All The Things You Are was written by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein. In American Popular Song, Alec Wilder notes that Very Warm For May must have had a terrible book “since otherwise the show’s failure is incomprehensible. For it had one of Kern’s best scores. Indeed there are five songs worth considering, the greatest of them being All The Things You Are“.

The song has lent itself to numerous jazz interpretations by some of America’s finest jazz musicians, including Artie Shaw, Sonny Rollins and Coleman Hawkins, Dizzy Gillespie and Dave Brubeck. In his book The Jazz Standards, Al Gioia relates that “I recall talking to saxophonist Bud Shank a few months before his death at age 82, when he noted that he never felt he had exhausted the possibilities of this specific song, which he had first recorded almost 60 years earlier.”

About This Version

Today’s version comes from the 1962 Carnegie Hall Concert.

All The Things You Are (From "Very Warm For May") - Live at Carnegie Hall, New York, NY - June 1962

Listen to All The Things You Are (From "Very Warm For May") - Live at Carnegie Hall, New York, NY - June 1962 on Spotify. Tony Bennett, Ralph Sharon & His Orchestra · Song · 1962.

“All The Things You Are,” was well as the complete Tony Bennett at Carnegie Hall album, is available from iTunes.

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Song of the Day: Solitude

The song of the day for Wednesday, June 5, 2013, is “Solitude.”

About This Song

“Solitude” was written by Duke Ellington in 1934, with lyrics by Eddie DeLange and Irving Mills. One of his masterpieces, Ellington is said to have written this song in twenty minutes at the recording session, as they were on number short (Ted Gioia in Jazz Standards).   It’s a very strong song for both vocalists and instrumentalists. Ellington made over a hundred recordings of this song. Other great recordings include those by Paul Robeson, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday and Billy Eckstine.

About This Version

Today’s version is one my favorite numbers from his 1962 Carnegie Hall concert. It starts slow and quiet and builds steadily to the finish. Tony Bennett has said that he probably has sung this song more often than other, even “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.” It was a popular request from his early (even pre-World War II) days as a singing waiter.

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

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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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