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 Saturday, June 4, 2016 is “The Way You Look Tonight.”

About This Song

Written by Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields, “The Way You Look Tonight” 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

Tony Bennett has recorded this song several times, but my favorite of them all is from last year’s Grammy-winning album The Silver Lining: The Music of Jerome Kern, featuring the great Bill Charlap on piano. The recording is flawless, as is the song itself.

The Way You Look Tonight

Tony Bennett, Bill Charlap · The Silver Lining - The Songs of Jerome Kern · Song · 2015


“The Way You Look Tonight,” as well as , is available from iTunes.

About Today

We have this wonderful video of Tony Bennett and Bill Charlap performing this song from their wonderful album, The Silver Lining: The Music of Jerome Kern.

About June

As some of you know, I was laid off from my job in April. Luckily, I found a new job which I started two weeks ago and am enjoying very much.

What I am not enjoying is being told a few days before I started my new job that I have to move, as the owner of house I’ve been leasing for years needs to sell the house. I am now in the throes of (1) going through my stuff and sloughing off things I no longer need or no longer fit in, (2) packing up the rest, (3) setting up change of addresses and (4) actually moving in a few weeks. With all that in mind, I may be taking some chunks of time off to pay attention to these mundane details. But never fear … it will only be temporary.

Meanwhile, wish us luck here in Portland. We’re looking at triple-digit temperatures this weekend. Ugh!

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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

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


“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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Song of the Day: The Way You Look Tonight

The song of the day for Wednesday, January 27, 2016 is “The Way You Look Tonight.”

About This Song

Today’s song, “The Way You Look Tonight,” was written by Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields for the 1936 film Swing Time, where it was introduced by Fred Astaire.

The song won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for the year; lyricist Dorothy Fields was the first woman to win an Oscar for songwriting. She later remarked that

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.

“The Way You Look Tonight” is 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 has recorded this song several times, both as a solo and on his Duets album. Up until last year, my favorite version was the one he did for the film My Best Friend’s Wedding, which is included on Rarities, Outtakes and Other Delights, Vol. 2.

But even that wonderful recording is, for me, eclipsed by the exquisite recording he made with Bill Charlap for their 2015 album The Silver Lining: The Songs of Jerome Kern.

The Way You Look Tonight

Tony Bennett, Bill Charlap · The Silver Lining - The Songs of Jerome Kern · Song · 2015


“The Way You Look Tonight,” as well as The Silver Lining: The Songs of Jerome Kern, is available from iTunes.

About Today

Jerome David Kern was born 131 years ago today on January 27, 1885. In reviewing songs of his over this month, I’ve come to appreciate his work more and more and, like many fans, am so happy that Mr. Bennett and Mr. Charlap decided to do an album of these wonderful songs. Like many songs in the American Songbook, and more than most, the songs of Jerome Kern are as relevant, as beautiful and meaningful to us today as they were when written.

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Song of the Day: The Way You Look Tonight

The song of the day for Monday, October 26, 2015 is “The Way You Look Tonight.”

About This Song

Today’s song, “The Way You Look Tonight,” is one of the most beautiful love songs ever written. This Jerome Kern tune, with lyrics from 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

Tony Bennett recorded this version of “The Way You Look Tonight” in 1977 for the soundtrack of the film My Best Friend’s Wedding, with the lovely piano of Ralph Sharon. It’s doesn’t get much more beautiful than this.

The Way You Look Tonight

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


“The Way You Look Tonight,” as well as all the songs collected on Outtakes, Rarities and 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, September 19, 2015 is “The Way You Look Tonight.”

About This Song

“The Way You Look Tonight” was written by Jerome Kern with lyrics by Dorothy Fields. The song was introduced by Fred Astaire in the 1936 film Swing Time; it 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 has recorded “The Way You Look Tonight” several times, first in 1958 for the album Long Ago and Far Away and for Duets II (with Faith Hill) and Viva Duets (with Thalia).

But my absolute favorite recording, so far, of this song is from ca. 1997 and is a special version he and the Ralph Sharon Trio recorded for the movie My Best Friend’s Wedding, which was, to my great pleasure, included on one of the Rarities CDs included in the 2011 Complete Collection. It’s absolutely beautiful.

The Way You Look Tonight

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


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

About Today

Today is YouTube Saturday and this week it’s very special! This is recording of today’s song with Tony and Bill Charlap, as recorded in 2008 for an Elvis Costello television special. I like to think of it as a bit of a preview of their album of Jerome Kern songs, The Silver Lining, which will be released on Friday, September 25, 2015. I can’t wait for my copy to arrive from Amazon, where the album has held the #1 ranking for vocal jazz since it became available for preorder.