The Year of Tony Bennett

An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett

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Song of the Day: Wave

The Year of Tony Bennett recognizes today, January 25, as the birth date of  the great Brazilian  songwriter and musician Antônio  Carlos Jobim (who also went by Tom Jobim), born in 1927. Jobim essentially created the bossa nova style with songs like The Girl From Ipanema, which won the Grammy award for Record of the Year in 1965. Mr. Jobim passed away in December, 1994 at the relatively young age of 67.

antonio-carlos-jobim-wave

In tribute to Jobim, we feature Tony Bennett singing one of Jobim’s songs, Wave, as the song of the day for Friday, January 25, 2013.

About Wave

Wave, or Vou Te Contar in the original Portuguese, was written by Jobim in 1967 and appeared on the album of the same name. It has been recorded by many fine artists, including Frank Sinatra, Buddy Rich, Sarah Vaughan, Joao Gilberto, Ella Fitzgerald and Paul Desmond.

About This Version

This recording is from Tony Bennett’s Get Happy live concert with the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 1971.

Wave - Live at the Royal Albert Hall, London, England - January 1971

Listen to Wave - Live at the Royal Albert Hall, London, England - January 1971 on Spotify. Song · Tony Bennett · 1971

Wave, as well as the full Get Happy album, is available from iTunes.

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Song of the Day: Wave

As Mr. Bennett is currently performing in Brazil, today’s song of the day for December 1, 2012 is Wave.

About Wave

Wave, or Vou Te Contar in the original Portuguese, was written by Antonio Carlos Jobim in 1967. It appeared on Jobim’s third album, also called Wave. In addition to Mr. Jobim, the song has also been recorded by Frank Sinatra, Oscar Peterson, Buddy Rich, Joao Gilberto and Ella Fitzgerald.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded this song for his 1970 album Something, which featured a beautiful photograph of Mr. Bennett and his infant daughter Johanna on the cover. The album was arranged and conducted by Peter Matz and produced by Teo Macero.

This song, along with the entire album, is available on iTunes.

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Song of the Day: Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars

The Song of the Day for September 16, 2012 is Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars.

About Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars

This bossa nova song was written in 1962 by Antonio Carlos Jobim, with the English lyrics later written by Gene Lees. The actual title of the song in Portuguese is Corcovado, after the mountain in Rio de Janiero.

The song is jazz classic and a bossa nova standard. Jazz versions include Miles Davis, Charlie Byrd, Frank Sinatra,  Ella Fitzgerald and Diana Krall. Bossa nova recordings include João Gilberto and Quarteto Jobim-Morelenbaum.

About This Version

Mr. Bennett recorded this song for the 1963 I Wanna Be Around. I believe that Tony Bennett has a wonderful feel for singing bossa nova, exemplified by his 1965 recording of How Insensitive (Insensatez) on If Ruled The World: Songs for the Jet Set. Enjoy this song as the summer winds down.

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Wave

The Song of the Day for August 14, 2012 is Wave.

About Wave

Wave, also known as Vou Te Contar, was written by Antonio Carlos Jobim and was first recorded by him as an instrumental in 1967. It’s a well-known bossa nova classic. It’s been widely recorded, from Frank Sinatra to Susannah McCorkle to Oscar Peterson.

About This Version

Tony first recorded this song in 1970 for the album Something, released at the end of his first contract with Columbia. The cover art is a joy: a loving photograph of Tony with his daughter Joanna.