The Year of Tony Bennett

An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett

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Song of the Day: All For You

The song of the day for Friday, September 9, 2022, is “All For You.”

About Today

The Year of Tony Bennett wishes Susan Benedetto, Tony Bennett’s wife, a very happy birthday.

About This Song

“All For You” was written in 2004 by Tony Bennett, for a tune written in 1940 by Django Reinhardt.

Tony Bennett’s son, Danny, had long encouraged his father to write a song. While performing in Hawaii, he dropped into a small jazz club and heard the Django Reinhardt song “Nuages” and felt that he had found the right melody for the song he had in mind. He talks about the song in his book Life is a Gift: The Zen of Bennett:

I asked Danny to get hold of the family that owned the song, and they gave us an okay for me to write the lyrics, inspired by and dedicated to my wife, Susan Benedetto, which became “All for You.” And oddly enough, I wrote the lyrics in only an hour. I guess from interpreting songs for so many years, I know to stay away from trite material, and I thought it came out pretty well. Then when we were in Fresno, California, I performed it in front of an audience for the first time, and I was bowled over by their reaction; they went crazy for it. So at eighty-six, I now have my first songwriting credit.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “All For You” in 2004 for his album The Art of Romance. Johnny Mandel wrote the arrangement.

“All For You,” as well as The Art of Romance is available on Apple Music.

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Song of the Day: All From You

The song of the day for Monday, September 9, 2019, is “All From You.”

About Today

The Year of Tony Bennett wishes Susan Benedetto a very happy birthday! We enjoyed saying hello the last time you were in Portland.

About This Song

“All For You” was composed in 1940 by Django Reinhardt; the lyrics were written by Tony Bennett in 2004. Tony Bennett’s son, Danny, had long encouraged his father to write a song. While performing in Hawaii, he dropped into a small jazz club and heard the Django Reinhardt song “Nuages” and felt that he had found the right melody for the song he had in mind. The resulting song is really beautiful.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “All For You” in 2004 for The Art of Romance. The lovely arrangement is by Johnny Mandel.

“All From You,” as well as The Art of Romance, is available from iTunes.

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Tony and Susan on Arts Education and Optimism

Tony Bennett and Susan Benedetto  did an interview on CNN about the students at the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts and the relationship with The Gap this Christmas.

As someone who studied drama and music in high school, I cannot agree more about the value of arts education to encourage success in students.  I learned so many of the lessons I needed to succeed in life in my high school arts education: how to create as part of a team as well as on my own; how you have to practice and then practice some more because nothing comes that easily; how you are just one part of the group and it’s up to everyone in the group to help everyone succeed; and how be responsible and do what you say you’re going to do — be on time, be prepared with your own stuff, and to be ready to help others succeed. Even though I now work in the business world, I follow these guidelines every day in my work relationships and am much better person because of my early arts education.

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