The Year of Tony Bennett

An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett

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Song of the Day: But Beautiful

The song of the day for Monday, September 16, 2019, is “But Beautiful.”

About This Song

“But Beautiful” was written in 1947 by Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Burke 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.

About This Version

Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga recorded “But Beautiful” in 2014 for their album Cheek To Cheek, featuring an arrangement by Jorge Calandrelli. It’s a pleasure to present this recording. I feature this song often on this site, but always the recording that Tony made with Bill Evans for The Tony Bennett/Bill Evans Album. Both of these recordings are stunning.

“But Beautiful,” as well as Cheek To Cheek, is available from iTunes.

I’d also like to include this video from the recording of “But Beautiful for Cheek To Cheek. Thre are many videos of Tony Bennett recording with duet partners, but this one is my absolute favorite. First, it’s a great illustration of how Tony likes to record, which is not as common these days. The video shows Tony and Lady Gaga in the recording studio, as well as Bennett’s quartet. These are all great musicians and it’s wonderful to see them. Note the exquisite guitar by Gray Sargent. Second, it’s meaningful to see these Tony and Lady Gaga work this song. “But Beautiful” is not your garden-variety love song, with lyrics like

Love is tearful, or it’s gay
it’s a problem or it’s play
It’s a heartache either way
but beautiful…

Even reading these lines tugs at my heart. Watching Tony and Lady Gaga sing this song is like watching the arc of a love affair.

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Notes from the Blog

Thanks to Google Analytics, I’m able to see information about how readers find The Year of Tony Bennett. I want to share some of my favorite search terms that readers have used to reach us:

  1. i just want to hear tony bennett not others right now
  2. how to play like ralph sharon
  3. vicente fernandez bing crosby duet
  4. tony bennett’s dog

As for #1, well, I can certainly appreciate that. #2: that’s a pretty hard act to follow.  #3: might have been interesting. #4: we are big fans of Happy.

We also get questions like this:

  1. who plays for tony bennett
  2. marshall wood bass
  3. gray sargent guitar
  4. harold jones drums
  5. lee musiker

We do have a nice article up about the Quartet.  Lots and lots of interest about these musicians. In fact, “lee musiker” is the single most used unique search term used to reach the site.

In the past month, we’ve had visitors from  every continent on the planet, except Antarctica.  Just in the last few days, we’ve had visitors from Moscow; Lagos, Nigeria; Tanzania; and Tehran, Iran. And, for those fans of the British version of The Office, we had a visitor from Slough today as well.

We are enormously grateful to all of our readers and are happy that we are able to provide information about Tony Bennett to interested people who are, literally, all over the world.

Many Thanks,

Suzanne

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The Quartet

The Year of Tony Bennett has seen Tony Bennett several times in concert, always with this quartet of gifted musicians who not only back up Mr. Bennett superbly, but are all exceptional artists in their own right.

Tom Adair (piano).

Gray Sargent (guitar). Gray Sargent has, to the best of our knowledge, played with Mr. Bennett longer than other members of the current quartet. Gray was a member of the Ralph Sharon Quartet (along with Clayton Cameron and Paul Langosch) and has played with Ruby Braff. He is a recognized jazz and swing guitarist. Tony often sings with only Gray accompanying him at his concerts and those songs are always quite lovely. You can sometimes find Gray’s album, Shades of Gray, from Amazon.

Marshall Wood (bass). Marshall Wood is a well-respected jazz bass player. He played with Gray Sargent on Shades of Gray and with Rudy Braff.

Harold Jones (drums). Count Basie’s Favorite Drummer. He’s The Year of Tony Bennett‘s favorite drummer too. A native of Richmond, Indiana, he has played with many of the 20th and 21st century’s finest jazz artists: Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Hoagy Carmichael, Oscar Peterson, Benny Goodman, Joe Williams, Ella Fitzgerald and Natalie Cole. He is a renowned drumming instructor as well. We recently enjoyed the new biography of Mr. Jones: Harold Jones: The Singer’s Drummer by Gil Jacobs, which is available on Amazon.

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The Best $5.99 You’ll Ever Spend

If you are a fan of Mr. Bennett’s live performances, I recommend that you download the iTunes Festival: London 2010 EP set of six songs, performed live in London. These recordings do not (as yet) exist on any released album. They are, without a doubt, on the top of my favorite cuts of his. Included on the set is:

  • The Best Is Yet To Come
  • Maybe This Time
  • Sing You Sinners
  • Smile
  • Who Care (So Long As You Care For Me)
  • For Once In My Life

If you’re not already a fan of his live performances, well, you’re missing something wonderful. Again, try this set for $5.99.
Mr. Bennett is accompanied by Lee Musiker (piano), Gray Sargent (guitar), Marshall Wood (bass) and Harold Jones (drums). The quartet is wonderful–on this EP set as well as in the live performances I’ve seen.

This link will take to you the proper location in ITunes. If you already have this, consider gifting it to a friend.

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