The Year of Tony Bennett

An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett

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Song of the Day: Stella By Starlight

The song of the day for Thursday, December 26, 2013 is “Stella By Starlight.”

About This Song

“Stella by Starlight” was composed by Victor Young in 1944 for the film The Uninvited. The lyrics by Ned Washington were added in 1946. The song was recorded in 1947 by Harry James and also by Frank Sinatra. Charlie Parker recorded the first jazz recording in 1952 and the song has become a jazz standard as a result, with great jazz recordings by Miles Davis, Stan Getz, Bud Powell, Joe Pass and Dexter Gordon. The song ranks #10 on the jazzstandards.org list.

About This Version

This version of “Stella by Starlight” was recorded by Tony Bennett in 1961 for his album My Heart Sings. This song, as well the entire album, was arranged and conducted by Ralph Burns, with a big band including talents like Bernie Leighton, Milt Hinton and Eddie Costa.

http://open.spotify.com/track/4L9AQ9NAAS8eq82ZIc24p8
“Stella By Starlight,” as well as the album My Heart Sings, is available from iTunes.

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Song of the Day: Dancing in the Dark

The song of the day for Thursday, September 12, 2013 is “Dancing in the Dark.”

About This Song

“Dancing in the Dark” was written in 1931 by the songwriting team of Arthur Schwartz (music) and Howard Dietz (lyrics) for the Broadway musical revue The Band Wagon, which featured Fred and Adele Astaire and Frank Morgan. The song was introduced by John Barker and featured dancing on a raked, lighted mirror stage. A recording was made of the show with the Leo Reisman Orchestra in a two-sided 33 1/3 recording. It was the very first commercially released recorded at this speed. Unfortunately, this new speed required new record players and as the Depression was well under way, the expense proved too much for most people and so the new format didn’t really take off for another 20+ years.

“Dancing in the Dark” is one of Schwartz’ and Dietz’ most enduring songs, with recordings by Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Bill Evans and, of course, Tony Bennett.

About This Version

Today’s version is from Tony Bennett’s 1961 album My Heart Sings, which featured big band arrangements by Ralph Burns.

http://open.spotify.com/track/4up57sk978q1DVJ4NYZuxE
“Dancing In The Dark,” as well as the album My Heart Sings, is available from iTunes and Amazon.com.

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