An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett
Congratulations to Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga on this honor!
I paint everyday but this day is special – celebrating Lady's and my Cheek to Cheek being #1. @ladygaga pic.twitter.com/BgNCKDsCeC
— Tony Bennett (@itstonybennett) October 2, 2014
.@itsTonyBennett is the oldest living act to earn a No. 1 album on the #Billboard200: http://t.co/j9n3fOlIkB pic.twitter.com/T0F4JTIQWD
— billboard (@billboard) October 2, 2014
The song of the day for Monday, September 29, 2014 is “But Beautiful.”
Today’s song was written by Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Burke. It was written for Bing Crosby to sing in the 1947 movie The Road to Rio. The song has been widely recorded, including recordings by Bill Evans, Johnny Hartman, Billie Holiday, Gregory Porter, Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole.
Today’s version of “But Beautiful” is the duet version with Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga from their new album Cheek To Cheek. Bennett has recorded this song once before: in 1975 with Bill Evans for The Tony Bennett Bill Evans Album. Both versions are wonderful. I never tire of this song and am happy to present this new recording of a favorite song. Note the very lovely work from guitarist Gray Sargent.
But Beautiful
Listen to But Beautiful on Spotify. Song · Tony Bennett, Lady Gaga · 2014
The song of the day for Friday, September 26, 2014 is “They All Laughed.”
George and Ira Gershwin wrote “They All Laughed” in 1937 for the Fred Astaire film Shall We Dance. Tony Bennett regularly sings this song in his concerts.
Tony Bennett has recorded this song three times: in 1968 for I’ve Gotta Be Me and again in 1993 for Steppin’ Out. Today, however, we present the most recent version: 2014 with Lady Gaga for Cheek To Cheek. The fabulous swinging arrangement for the big band is by the great Marion Evans.
Today marks the anniversary of the birth of George Gershwin, who was born on September 26, 1898 as Jacob Gershwine in Brooklyn, New York. He has said to have grown up as an ordinary kid: roller skating, hanging out with his friends and generally enjoying himself. At the age of ten, he attended a violin recital for one of his friends and soon his life became about music. When his parents bought a piano for his older brother Ira, it was Jacob/George who played it constantly. He got his first musical job at the age of 15 as a song plugger for a music publishing company. By 1919, he had composed his first famous song, “Swanee,” sung by Al Jolson. He began writing Broadway musicals in 1920 and began to work with Buddy DeSylva and in 1924, he began working with Ira as his lyricist. Their first hit was Lady Be Good, and they went on to write a string of hits for Broadway and films. At the same time, George, who had been trained classically as a pianist, wrote serious music including Porgy and Bess, An American in Paris, Rhapsody in Blue and other concert pieces.
In 1936, the brothers moved to Hollywood to write for the film industry, starting with Shall We Dance. At that time, he began complaining of severe headaches and suffered from mood swings, poor coordination and olfactory hallucinations. On July 9, 1937, he was working with Yip Harburg on the score for a new film and collapsed. He was rushed to the hospital, where he fell into a coma. It was only then that his brain tumor was discovered and subsequently operated upon. He died on July 11, 1937. He was 38 years old.
They All Laughed
Listen to They All Laughed on Spotify. Song · Tony Bennett, Lady Gaga · 2014
The song of the day for Thursday, September 25, 2014 is “Nature Boy.”
Today’s song has a quite interesting background. “Nature Boy” was written in 1947 by eden ahbez, the name adopted by George Alexander Aberle, who was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1908. In the 1930s, he lived in Kansas City and worked as a pianist and band leader. In the early 1940s, he moved to Los Angeles and began playing piano in a health food and raw food store run by John and Vera Richter, who followed a Naturmensch and Lebensreform philosophy influenced by the Wandervogel movement in Germany. In following their philosophy, he and other followers grew their hair long, became vegetarians and were, for all practical purposes, the earliest hippies. They called themselves The Nature Boys.
At the suggestion of Johnny Mercer, eden ahbez approached Nat King Cole with his song “Nature Boy.” Unable to meet with Nat Cole personally, he left the song with Cole’s valet. Cole began to perform the song in his concerts; in 1947 he recorded it for Capitol Records, with an arrangement by Frank DeVol, who used strings and flute in his orchestration. The song was a big hit for Nat Cole and Capitol Records.
In The Jazz Standards, Ted Gioia describes the song:
So many years later, “Nature Boy” is still a deep and deeply moving song. If a performer can rise to the occasion of delivering it — and it requires a certain poise and and earnestness to do so convincingly — audiences can be left reeling in the aftermath.
Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga recorded “Nature Boy” for their new album Cheek To Cheek. The effective orchestration is by Jorge Calandrelli; the flute solo is from Paul Horn.
We at The Year of Tony Bennett are quite taken with this song and both of us are finding ourselves listening to it over and over. I would say that we are left reeling in the aftermath of the extraordinary performance from these two great artists.
Nature Boy
Listen to Nature Boy on Spotify. Song · Tony Bennett, Lady Gaga · 2014
The song of the day for September 24, 2014 is “Goody, Goody.”
“Goody Goody” was written in 1936 by Matty Malneck, with lyrics by Johnny Mercer. Notable recordings include those by Benny Goodman and His Orchestra (with Helen Ward), Frank Sinatra, Della Reese, Ella Fitzgerald, and Julie London.
Today’s song is from Tony Bennett’s and Lady Gaga’s new album, Cheek To Cheek (the deluxe edition). I just got home, unpacked it from Amazon and have been listening all day. It’s a real joy and this song exemplifies that joy. For this song, they are accompanied by Tony Bennett’s Quartet of Mike Renzi (piano), Gray Sargent (guitar), Marshall Wood (bass) and Harold Jones (drums).
Goody Goody
Listen to Goody Goody on Spotify. Song · Tony Bennett, Lady Gaga · 2014