An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett
The late Amy Winehouse was born on September 14, 1983 in London and died, tragically, on July 23, 2011. Her father, Mitch Winehouse, created The Amy Winehouse Foundation, which works to prevent the effects of drug and alcohol misuse on young people.
I’d like to remember her today with the video of “Body and Soul” from Duets II.
The song of the day for Sunday, September 6, 2015 is “Body and Soul”
“Body and Soul” was written in 1930 by Johnny Green with lyrics by Edward Heyman, Robert Sour and Frank Eyton.
Ted Gioia, in his book The Jazz Standards, says that Body and Soul “is the granddaddy of jazz ballads, the quintessential torch song, and the ultimate measuring rod for tenor sax players of all generations. Even in the new millennium, this 1930 composition continues to serve as the cornerstone of the repertoire.” Louis Armstrong recorded the song first, followed in the 1930s by recordings from primarily white society bands, such as those led by Paul Whiteman. That said, some early recordings by jazz artists including Benny Goodman and especially Art Tatum started to cement this song as a serious jazz standard (in fact, it’s rated #1 on the jazzstandards.com website). However, the Coleman Hawkins recording from 1939 is widely acknowledged to have made the song a true jazz standard. The Hawkins recording was followed by great jazz recordings by Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Charles Mingus, Thelonious Monk, Art Pepper, Dave Brubeck and many more. Fine vocal recordings include those by Billie Holiday and Tony Bennett.
Today we present three different versions of “Body and Soul.”
Bennett first recorded this song in 1989 for his album Astoria: Portrait of the Artist. It was arranged by Jorge Calendrelli.
His next recording was in 1994, live for the MTV Unplugged telecast and album, which won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. It was arranged by Mr. Bennett and with Ralph Sharon, whose trio for album included Doug Richeson on bass and Clayton Cameron on drums.
The most recent recording is from 2011 with Amy Winehouse on Duets II, also arranged by Jorge Calendrelli. This recording won the Grammy for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.
I think all three of these are very good, but I’m partial to the 1994 version from the MTV Unplugged. As I’ve said many times: there’s nothing on earth more wonderful than listening to Tony Bennett singing live.
We continue our new Sunday tradition of presenting songs that Tony Bennett has recorded multiple times over his career. This lets us compare the different versions on a number of levels, from the year recorded to the arranger.
Body and Soul
Listen to Body and Soul on Spotify. Song · Tony Bennett · 1990
Body and Soul - Live at Sony Studios, New York City, NY - April 1994
Listen to Body and Soul - Live at Sony Studios, New York City, NY - April 1994 on Spotify. Song · Tony Bennett · 1994
Body and Soul
Listen to Body and Soul on Spotify. Song · Tony Bennett, Amy Winehouse · 2011
The song of the day for Sunday, September 14, 2014 is “Body and Soul.”
Today’s song, “Body and Soul,” was written in 1930, with music by Johnny Green and lyrics by Edward Heyman, Robert Sour and Frank Eyton. Ted Gioia, in his book The Jazz Standards, says that Body and Soul “is the granddaddy of jazz ballads, the quintessential torch song, and the ultimate measuring rod for tenor sax players of all generations. Even in the new millennium, this 1930 composition continues to serve as the cornerstone of the repertoire.” Louis Armstrong recorded the song first, followed in the 1930s by recordings from primarily white society bands, such as those led by Paul Whiteman. That said, some early recordings by jazz artists including Benny Goodman and especially Art Tatum started to cement this song as a serious jazz standard (in fact, it’s rated #1 on the jazzstandards.com website). However, the Coleman Hawkins recording from 1939 is widely acknowledged to have made the song a true jazz standard. The Hawkins recording was followed by great jazz recordings by Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Charles Mingus, Thelonious Monk, Art Pepper, Dave Brubeck and many more. Fine vocal recordings include those by Billie Holiday and Tony Bennett.
Today’s version is the 2011 duet of “Body and Soul” with Amy Winehouse. It was arranged and conducted by Jorge Calandrelli and recorded in London at Abbey Road Studios. This was the last song that Amy recorded; she died just a few weeks after their session. The recording won the Grammy award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.
Today would have been Amy Winehouse’s 31st birthday. She died from alcohol poisoning on July 23, 2011. Every time I listen to her music, I am filled with sadness over all the music she never got to make and gratitude for the music she did make.
For more information about Amy’s legacy, please visit amywinehouse.com. Her parents have created the Amy Winehouse Foundation to help combat the misuse of drugs and alcohol on young people. You can learn more about the foundation at amywinehousefoundation.org.
Body and Soul
Listen to Body and Soul on Spotify. Song · Tony Bennett, Amy Winehouse · 2011
And here’s the wonderful video of Tony and Amy recording “Body and Soul.”
The song of the day for Saturday, January 18, 2014 is “Body and Soul.”
“Body and Soul” was written in 1930 by Johnny Green, with lyrics by Edward Heyman, Robert Sour and Frank Eyton. The song was originally written for Gertrude Lawrence, the British actress and singer. It was introduced in the United States in 1930 in a Broadway revue called Three’s a Crowd.
The importance of “Body and Soul” as a jazz standard is unsurpassed; it ranks #1 on the jazz standards.com website. It has been recorded by the greats of jazz: Coleman Hawkins, Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan, Bill Evans, John Coltrane among many others.
One might think that Tony Bennett has sung “Body and Soul” for decades, but his first released recording of this song wasn’t made until 1989, for the 1990 album Astoria: Portrait of the Artist. In 1994, he sung this song on MTV Unplugged, which not only won the Grammy for Best Traditional Pop Performance but also Album of the Year. His next recording, the duet with Amy Winehouse for Duets II, won the Grammy for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance; Duets II won the Grammy for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album. I would hazard a guess that this song has been very good for Mr. Bennett.
http://open.spotify.com/track/6yqbGOlhxaX8iVLkpIoPHd
“Body and Soul,” as well as Astoria: Portrait of the Artist, is available from iTunes.
And as it’s YouTube Saturday, The Year of Tony Bennett is pleased to present this video of Tony Bennett and the late Amy Winehouse singing their Grammy Award-winning duet of “Body and Soul.”
The song of the day for Saturday, September 14, 2013 is “Body and Soul.”
Today Amy Winehouse would have become thirty years old. The world lost a great talent when she died. We would like to remind you about the Amy Winehouse Foundation, with this mission (from the US version of the foundation website):
The Amy Winehouse Foundation’s mission is supporting and empowering children and young adults in need through music therapy and music education and works to prevent the effects of drug and alcohol misuse on young people. We aim to support, inform and inspire vulnerable and disadvantaged young people to help them reach their full potential.
The foundation held its first Inspiration Awards and Gala in March 2013 in New York and awarded Tony Bennett its Lifetime Achievement Award.
“Body and Soul” was written in 1930 by Johnny Green, with lyrics by Edward Heyman, Robert Sour and Frank Eyton. The song first became popular in Europe and the version sung by Gertrude Lawrence was quite popular. In the 1930s, the song was considered too racy, even “lewd”, to play on the radio. Apparently sexual desire without romance was frowned upon. American recordings include those by Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan and Billy Eckstine, with many fine jazz instrumental recordings, including those by Bill Evans and John Coltrane. “Body and Soul” is the most often-recorded jazz standard and is the #1 song on the jazzstandards.com website.
While Tony Bennett has performed “Body and Soul” for many years, his first recording (to the best of my knowledge) was in 1990 for Astoria: Portrait of the Artist. He also sang it on his award-winning MTV Unplugged television special in 1994.
Today’s version is, of course, the 2011 duet with Amy Winehouse on Duets II, for which they won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. It was her final recording; she died four months after she and Bennett made this recording. Tony Bennett speaks quite movingly about Amy Winehouse in The Zen of Bennett.
http://open.spotify.com/track/01hJnhpAmjzg85Etnz2ECH
“Body and Soul,” as well the entire Duets II album, is available from iTunes and Amazon.com.
Here’s the video of Tony’s and Amy’s recording session for “Body and Soul.”
If you haven’t yet seen The Zen of Bennett, the opinionated author at the Year of Tony Bennett recommends it highly, if for no other reason than the segment on this session.