The Year of Tony Bennett

An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett

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Song of the Day: Song of the Jet

The song of the day for Sunday, February 1, 2015 is “Song of the Jet.”

About This Song

“Song of the Jet,” or “Samba do Avião” in the original Portuguese, was written by Antonio Carlos Jobim in 1963. Gene Lees wrote the English lyrics.

About This Version

Today’s song is the first song on our February 2015 album of the month – If I Ruled The World: Songs for the Jet Set. It sets the tone for the album nicely, with the beautiful photograph of Rio de Janeiro on its cover. The arrangement by Don Costa features not only the Ralph Sharon Trio, with Hal Gaylord on bass and Billy Exiner on drums, but also Al Cohn on tenor sax and two Brazilian artists: Carlos Lyra on guitar and Elcio Milito on percussion.

I really love this arrangement and it serves as a terrific start to the album: the song starts slowly with much anticipation. As Bennett starts singing, the tempo is still coming up to speed … he moves into the rhythm of song the beautifully. Whenever I hear this song, I’m ready to jump on a plane and go to Rio!

Song Of The Jet Set

Tony Bennett · If I Ruled The World: Songs For The Jet Set · Song · 1965


“Song of the Jet,” as well as If I Ruled The World: Songs for the Jet Set, is available from iTunes.

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Song of the Day: Wave

The song of the day for Sunday, January 25, 2015 is “Wave.”

About This Song

Written in 1967, “Wave,” or “Vou Te Contar” in the original Portuguese, is a classic bossa nova song by Antonio Carlos Jobim. It’s one of Jobim’s loveliest songs.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “Wave” in 1970 for his album Tony Bennett’s “Something”. The arrangement is by Peter Matz and the album produced by Teo Macero. It’s a beautiful song and the arrangement and recording is quite wonderful.

About Today

The composer of today’s song, Antônio Carlos Jobim, was born in Rio de Janeiro on January 25, 1927. He was known as a songwriter, composer, arranger, singer, pianist and guitarist. He was undoutably the father of bossa nova, launched worldwide with “The Girl From Ipanema,” which won the 1965 Grammy Award for Record of the Year. His songs have been recorded worldwide and remain popular to this day. Jobim died in December 1994 in New York City; he was buried in his beloved Rio de Janeiro.

Wave

Listen to Wave on Spotify. Song · Tony Bennett · 1970


“Wave,” as well as Tony Bennett’s “Something”, is available from iTunes.

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Song of the Day: How Insensitive

The song of the day for Monday, August 18, 2014 is “How Insensitive.”

About This Song

“How Insensitive,” also known as “Insensatez” in the original Portuguese, was written in 1964 by Antonio Carlos Jobim. The melody is loosely based on Chopin’s Prelude No. 4. The original lyrics are by Vinicius de Moraes; the English lyrics are by Norman Gimbel. This song has been very widely recorded: by Jobim, Astrud Gilberto, Joao Gilberto, Frank Sinatra, Stan Getz, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Peggy Lee and many, many more.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded this song in 1965 for his album If I Ruled the World: Songs for the Jet Set, which features Rio de Janiero on the cover. The album was arranged by Don Costa and produced by Ernie Altschuler.

http://open.spotify.com/track/4MBtFhEOGkP23PDWO44b0I
“How Insensitive,” as well as If I Ruled The World: Songs For The Jet Set, is available from iTunes.

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Song of the Day: Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars

The song of the day for Monday, July 7, 2014 is “Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars.”

About This Song

“Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars” was written in 1960 by Antonio Carlos Jobim; the English lyrics are by Gene Lees. Known in the original Portuguese as “Corcovado,” this is one the great early bossa nova songs. The song has a serene quiet feeling–the English title fits the mood of the song perfectly. Both Stan Getz and Miles Davis recorded jazz versions of “Quiet Nights.”

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars” in 1962 for his 1963 album I Wanna Be Around. The song was arranged by Marty Manning.

http://open.spotify.com/track/79MANBUYixOGlFgoZnVTqw
“Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars,” as well as the album I Wanna Be Around, is available from iTunes.

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Song of the Day: Wave

The song of the day for Friday, April 11, 2014 is “Wave.”

About This Song

“Wave” was written by Antonio Carlos Jobim in 1967 and was released as an instrumental that same year on the album Wave. Jobim wrote the English lyrics as well. It has many fine recordings, including those by Frank Sinatra with Jobim, Ella Fitzgerald, Sérgio Mendes and Joao Gilberto.

About This Version

Today’s version of “Wave” is from Bennett’s 1970 album Tony Bennett’s “Something”. It was arranged by Peter Matz, produced by Teo Macero and engineered by the great Frank Laico. Bennett writes in his autobiography The Good Life:

The album was released in October 1970. For the cover, I chose a shot of me cradling infant Joanna in my arms. It’s the best album cover I ever saw.

http://open.spotify.com/track/28RYuPyg5tkCFTvVNl4vOA
“Wave,” as well as the album Tony Bennett’s “Something”, is available from iTunes.