July 25, 2012 By Suzanne Leave a Comment

Strike Up The Band

The Song of the Day for July 25, 2012 is Strike Up the Band by George and Ira Gershwin from the recently remastered release of Bennett & Basie Strike Up the Band. Recorded in January 1958. I love Tony Bennett playing with Count Basie and I hope you do too.

July 24, 2012 By Suzanne Leave a Comment

My Funny Valentine

My Funny Valentine, by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, is a jazz classic and one of my favorite songs. This video, from the official Tony Bennett Vevo channel on YouTube, was recording live in 1979 at a concert at Jubilee Hall in Edmonton, Canada. With Ralph Sharon on piano. I don’t know who the bass player is, but he’s quite good (even though he doesn’t look a day over fourteen years old).

July 24, 2012 By Suzanne Leave a Comment

July 24 2012

My Foolish Heart

Today’s Song of the Day is My Foolish Heart by Victor Young (music) and Ned Washington (lyrics) written in 1949. I listened to the Tony Bennett and Bill Evans sessions all day today and this song is one of my favorites. The song was originally recorded on their first album, The Tony Bennett and Bill Evans Album in 1975 on Tony’s own Improv label and is one of finest jazz vocal albums ever recorded. Just Tony and Bill in the studio making incredible music. Today’s link comes from the recently released compilation album Isn’t It Romantic.

July 20, 2012 By Suzanne Leave a Comment

July 21 2012

All For You

The Song of the Day is from The Art of Romance, with lyrics by Tony Bennett. The music adapted from Nuages by Django Reinhardt and is arranged by Johnny Mandel. It’s a favorite of us here at The Year of Tony Bennett. In fact, we love the album and recommend it all.

July 18, 2012 By Suzanne Leave a Comment

Respect and Admiration

I’ve been writing a lot on this blog about Mr. Bennett’s music and art. Today I want mention his record as a humanitarian.

As I’ve been reading news stories and learning about Mr. Bennett, I’ve learned that he has a reputation as someone who contributes time and money to worthy causes. The Look to the Stars website lists a few of the organizations he supports. In addition to co-founding Exploring The Arts with his wife Susan Benedetto, he supports the efforts of others who want to reach out and help.

The Year of Tony Bennett contributes a dollar for each follower of this blog to Exploring the Arts, with a minimum of $5o each quarter to that organization.