The Year of Tony Bennett

An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett

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Song of the Day: The Way You Look Tonight

The song of the day for Wednesday, January 27, 2021, is “The Way You Look Tonight.”

Composer Jerome Kern was born on January 27, 1885. As I write this, I am listening to the version of today’s songs and am struck by the timeless quality of this song. It’s just as relevant now as when it was written 85 years ago and will be relevant for generations to come.

We’ll be celebrating Jerome Kern for the rest of the week.

About This Song

“The Way You Look Tonight” was written by Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields for the 1936 film Swing Time. The song won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for the year; Dorothy Fields was the first woman to win an Oscar for songwriting.

Fields remarked

The first time Jerry played that melody for me I went out and started to cry. The release absolutely killed me. I couldn’t stop, it was so beautiful.

It’s a magnificent love song that has found a strong position as a jazz standard, with recordings by Bing Crosby, Billie Holiday, Mel Tormé, and Frank Sinatra.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded this version of “The Way You Look Tonight” in 1977 for the movie My Best Friend’s Wedding; the exquisite piano is from Ralph Sharon.

I had several choices of versions of today’s song to feature, but the version Bennett recorded for My Best Friend’s Wedding is the most beautiful song I’ve ever heard and so I feature it today.

The Way You Look Tonight

Listen to The Way You Look Tonight on Spotify. Tony Bennett · Song · 2012.

“The Way You Look Tonight,” as well as the song collected on Rarities, Outtakes & Other Delights, Vol. 2, is available from Apple Music.

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Song of the Day: The Way You Look Tonight

The song of the day for Wednesday, March 4, 2020, is “The Way You Look Tonight.”

About This Song

“The Way You Look Tonight” was written by Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields for the 1936 film Swing Time; the song won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for the year. Dorothy Fields remarked “The first time Jerry played that melody for me I went out and started to cry. The release absolutely killed me. I couldn’t stop, it was so beautiful.” Dorothy Fields was the first woman to win an Oscar for songwriting. It’s a magnificent love song that has found a strong position as a jazz standard, with recordings by Bing Crosby, Billie Holiday, Mel Tormé, and Frank Sinatra.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded this song (in only one take, it’s said) for the 1997 movie My Best Friend’s Wedding. This recording is included in Rarities, Outtakes & Other Delights, Vol. 2, which was included in the 2011 Complete Collection box set.

Last night I was looking for something to watch on TV that had nothing to do with the coronavirus or the election. I found, free on Amazon Prime, the biographical movie about Jerome Kern: Till The Clouds Roll By, released in 1946. The movie is rather cheesy, but the music was wonderful. Great orchestrations and fantastic singers including Judy Garland, Kathryn Grayson, Dinah Shore, Frank Sinatra, June Allyson, Lena Horne, and many more. So, I’ve been in a Jerome Kern mood all day and that always means “The Way You Look Tonight.”

“The Way You Look Tonight,” as well as Rarities, Outtakes & Other Delights, Vol. 2, is available from iTunes.

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Song of the Day: The Way You Look Tonight

The song of the day for Monday, January 27, 2020, is “The Way You Look Tonight.”

About Tonday

The Year of Tony Bennett will focus this week on the work of Jerome Kern, who was born on January 27, 1885. As Bill Charlap said, upon the release of The Silver Lining: The Songs of Jerome Kern:

Jerome Kern is the angel at the top of the tree for American popular songwriters and writers of the theater. He influenced George Gershwin. He influenced Richard Rodgers. He influenced all of the songwriters.

As we work through a week’s worth of Kern songs sung by Tony Bennett, we’ll see how relevant virtually all the songs remain in our time. Quite a feat for a man born 135 years ago.

About This Song

“The Way You Look Tonight” was written by Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields. The song was introduced by Fred Astaire in the 1936 film Swing Time; the song won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for the year. Dorothy Fields was the first woman to win an Oscar for songwriting. It’s a magnificent love song that has found a strong position as a jazz standard, with recordings by Bing Crosby, Billie Holiday, Mel Tormé, and Frank Sinatra.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded this version of “The Way You Look Tonight” for the 1997 film My Best Friends Wedding, accompanied by the Ralph Sharon Trio. The recording was collected on Rarities, Outtakes & Other Delights Vol. 2, originally released on CD in the Tony Bennett Complete Collection and is now available from iTunes.

“The Way You Look Tonight,” as well as Rarities, Outtakes & Other Delights, Vol. 2, is available from iTunes.

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Song of the Day: The Way You Look Tonight

The song of the day for Saturday, December 8, 2018, is “The Way You Look Tonight.”

About This Song

“The Way You Look Tonight” was written in 1936 by Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields. It was introduced by Fred Astaire in the 1936 film Swing Time; the song won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for the year. Dorothy Fields remarked:

The first time Jerry played that melody for me I went out and started to cry. The release absolutely killed me. I couldn’t stop, it was so beautiful.

Dorothy Fields was the first woman to win an Oscar for songwriting. It’s a magnificent love song that has found a strong position as a jazz standard, with recordings by Bing Crosby, Billie Holiday, Mel Tormé and Frank Sinatra.

About This Version

Today’s version of “The Way You Look Tonight” was recorded with The Ralph Sharon Trio for the film My Best Friend’s Wedding, released in 1997.

The Way You Look Tonight

The Way You Look Tonight, a song by Tony Bennett on Spotify

“The Way You Look Tonight,” as well as the songs collected on Rarities, Outtakes & Other Delights, Vol. 2, is available from iTunes.

About Today

I have a lovely video of Tony singing today’s song in 2014 at the iTunes London Festival and features the fine guitar of Gray Sargent.

Tony Bennett – The Way You Look Tonight (Live from iTunes Festival, London, 2014)

Music video by Tony Bennett performing The Way You Look Tonight (Live from iTunes Festival, London, 2014). (C) 2014 Columbia Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment http://vevo.ly/6Om08M

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Song of the Day: The Way You Look Tonight

The song of the day for Saturday, April 23, 2016 is “The Way You Look Tonight.”

About This Song

“The Way You Look Tonight,” written by Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields, was introduced by Fred Astaire in the 1936 film Swing Time; the song won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for the year. Dorothy Fields remarked “The first time Jerry played that melody for me I went out and started to cry. The release absolutely killed me. I couldn’t stop, it was so beautiful.” Dorothy Fields was the first woman to win an Oscar for songwriting. It’s a magnificent love song that has found a strong position as a jazz standard, with recordings by Bing Crosby, Billie Holiday, Mel Tormé and Frank Sinatra.

About This Version

Today’s version of “The Way You Look Tonight” is from the soundtrack of My Best Friend’s Wedding and was recorded ~1997 with the Ralph Sharon Trio. Thankfully, this beautiful recording was included on Volume 2 of Rarities, Outtakes and Other Delights in the 2011 Complete Collection box set, which is now also available from iTunes.

I have to say that I cannot get enough of hearing Tony Bennett sing this song. I’ve heard him sing it concert several times and I am always moved to tears. Bennett “gets” this song.

The Way You Look Tonight

The Way You Look Tonight, a song by Tony Bennett on Spotify


“The Way You Look Tonight,” as well as Rarities, Outtakes and Other Delights, Vol. 2, is available from iTunes.

About Today

Saturday is here again and that means a video. Today we have Tony Bennett and Bill Charlap performing “The Way You Look Tonight” from an Elvis Costello special from New Year’s Eve 2008.

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