Tony Bennett - Duets: An American Classic
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Free Music Notes for Duets: An American Classic
Free Music Review: Bennett and his buddies TONIGHT !!!
Hit: 5 Stars
Tony Bennett celebrates his 80th birthday in fantastic style with the release of his latest CD entitled Duets: An American Classic. Tony's voice is in excellent form--especially considering his age--and he picks some of the best artists to accompany him.
The CD opens with a great duet by Tony Bennett and The Dixie Chicks as they sing "Lullaby Of Broadway" together. The musical arrangement is very well done as Bennett and the Dixie Chicks blend into one. Bennett sings the next ballad, "Smile," with his old friend Barbra Streisand who sounds as great as ever. Their chemistry is very good and this enhances the quality of the performance.
Indeed, there's not a single loser on this album! Other great songs I especially enjoy include "The Shadow Of Your Smile" sung by Bennett and that awesome Latin singer named Juanes; the duet by the Sir Elton John and Tony Bennett entitled "Rags To Riches;" "The Good Life" sung by Bennett and the renowned Billy Joel; "For Once In My Life" by Bennett and the incomparable Stevie Wonder; and "I Wanna Be Around" which Tony sings with Bono, that great humanitarian and artist. Terrific!
The only song that is not a duet on this album is one of Bennett's signature songs, "I Left My Heart In San Francisco." Tony's voice injects a great sense of romanticism into this rendition.
John Legend also joins Tony Bennett for a duet of "Sing, You Sinners." Rumor has it that Legend got a lot of inspiration to work even harder than ever as a result of his work with Tony on this duet. I think it's great that Tony is able to encourage younger artists including John Legend to continue to create music for people of all ages to enjoy.
The quality of the music is nice and sharp! You'll swear they are right in your room as you listen to this CD.
The liner notes offer a unique portrait of Tony Bennett: His portrait is made out of very small buttons and almost all of the buttons have a small picture of Tony on them. The color and shade of the buttons put together as they are creates a mosaic type of image of Bennett that is both very creative and tastefully done. Nice job! There are also small pictures of the artists who worked with Bennett on these duets; and the song credits are there, too.
Overall, this CD is a huge winner and a celebration of Bennett's career in music as he turns 80 years old. Oh sure, maybe the sound of his voice changed a little over the years; but Bennett is in excellent form nonetheless. The other artists on this CD are all giants just as Tony is and we are very fortunate to be able to enjoy their contributions to the arts. You don't have to be 80 years old to enjoy this fine album! This album is for anyone who enjoys Tony Bennett's wonderful artistry, classic pop vocals and great duets. This album is also a touching collaboration of an older artist sharing the stage with his younger peers.
Free Music Review: Tony hasn't lost it and he helps some others find it . . .
Hit: 5 Stars
I had heard individual tunes off of the "Duets" album, but hadn't given it much thought until I saw the PBS special. At that point, I thought "maybe I'm missing something."
First, there is no doubt that, at 80, Tony's voice is not what it was 20 or 30 years ago--so, what?--it's still better than 90% of the vocalists out there. He still knows phrasing and he still knows how to swing. He is still the old master, and on this outing, he shows some younger singers (some, themselves, singing for four decades) a few things about the American songbook.
If there is a criticism of this album, it could be that some of the tunes are not the ones I would have chosen, but that's a matter of personal preference. Aside from that, Tony puts together a good performance with a top notch orchestra, elegant arrangements, and a swinging rhythm section. With all of that, and Tony's singing, it becomes pretty easy to make the "guests" sound good--and for the most part they do.
There are a couple of disappointments--Paul McCartney isn't quite up to the challenge on "The Very Thought of You" and Celene Dion is like a misplaced orphan on "If I Ruled the World." Elton John just doesn't "click" with Bennett on "Rags to Riches." Stevie Wonder is a mixed bag on "For Once in My Life," which he actually recorded as a hit. His singing sounds contrived and artificial compared to Tony's straight-ahead delivery. He redeems himself on his harmonica solo--a solid jazz statement that would probably make the master of jazz harmonica, Toots Thielemans, smile. (I would bet that Stevie was a Thielemans admirer back in his formative years.)
From some of the guests on this album one would expect a good performance, and they deliver--Diana Krall, k.d. lang, Barbara Streisand. The pleasant surprise comes when some get taken out of their "comfort zone" and Bennett (and that band) brings out unexpected jazz artistry. The Dixie Chicks will never be the Andrews Sisters, but they manage a solid ensemble performance. Maybe the best surprise is Bono. I've always liked U2, but I never imagined Bono performing "I Wanna Be Around." The guy a) can sing quite well and b) can sing a torch song with true feeling. He connects with Bennett as well as any artist on this album--I wonder what Bennett would sound like singing "With or Without You" with Bono. Pretty good, I'd bet.
All in all, Bennett alone would be worthy of the 5-star rating. The good contributions by the guests are the bonus. One thing that comes through clearly when one watches the PBS special is that Bennett thouroughly enjoyed this romp. Unlike many of his guests, he has nothing left to prove--he's just Tony Bennett.
Free Music Review: How DO you keep the music playing so beautifully, Tony?
Hit: 5 Stars
Okay, I admit I'm in love with Tony Bennett, becoming an even more devoted fan after the passing of Sinatra. Maybe I'm trying to hold on to the generation past that my parents experienced and knew so well. But whatever the reason, I love the music and voice of Tony Bennett.
I received Duets as a birthday present, and I was anxious to hear it. The album cover art montage was fun to check out. But I wondered if many of these artists would gel well on these songs with Mr. Bennett. Tony is in a class of his very own. His phrasing and getting into a grove with his great band are part of what makes him so unique and an American classic. Then remembrances of old variety shows with Dean Martin or Dina Shore dueting with singers of the day flooded my memory. So I sat back and fully enjoyed the CD, sometimes singing along and wishing I were among the favored few invited to sing a duet with the great Tony Bennett.
The first cut with The Dixie Chicks surprised me pleasantly with an effervescent rendition of Lullaby of Broadway. It's one of my favorite cuts to sing along with on this CD, along with James Taylor's duet on Put on a Happy Face, and Cold, Cold Heart with Tim McGraw.
And who can knock Tony with another great singer of our day, Streisand, on one of my favorite tunes, Smile? Even though her legato and his marcato don't exactly mesh at times, they are two of my favorite singers, so it works for me on this CD.
The only cut that I wasn't particularly fond of was the duet with Paul McCartney. His phrasing just didn't work well. But John Legend's duet with Tony was a nice surprise on Sing, You Sinners. Michael Buble' takes home a prize with Just In Time. Bono, Celine, Diana, Elvis, kd, Sting, and others all give variety and excellence in their performances with Tony.
The final cuts on Duets, Tony's infamous I Left My Heart in San Francisco, and his duet with George Michael, are classic Tony Bennett that make me want to keep this music playing for a long time to come.
- Victoria Austin
Free Music Review: Tony truly is an American Classic @}->---
Hit: 5 Stars
What a fantastic cd. It is packed with some of the most stunning voices you'll ever hear in the world of music. While this style of music may not appeal to everyone (not me - I like it), you have to honestly say that his choices of celebrity singers is perfect. Each bring a little something special to these songs and while Tony needs no help in the singing department, they compliment his smooth voice and make these songs more than great. It's no wonder so many talented people wanted to lend their voices to such a classic singer - they adore him as much as anyone could.
The surprise for me was seeing that Juanes was a guest star on the cd for the song The Shadow Of Your Smile. While I'm a big Juanes fan, I wasn't sure how that duo would sound together but after listening to them, I see it's amazing. That's one of the better songs. I also really like Smile with Barbra Streisand, Sing You Sinners with John Legend and I Wanna Be Around with Bono. I also think it was really cool to have Tony Bennett sing For Once In My Life with Stevie Wonder whose song that originally was. When you see the artists on here and the song choices, you have to realise that there is something here for most people and it's such a pleasure to listen to. It is so enjoyable and great to chill to. I love it and highly recommend it to everyone.
Free Music Review: Dazzling duets
Hit: 5 Stars
I was fortunate enough to see Tony Bennett perform live in concert over the summer, and he was plugging the "Duets: An American Classic" CD at the time. I'm glad I finally got my hands on it. It's amazing to me that Tony's voice is still so spectacular even at the ripe old age of 80. The man never sounded better, and this CD proves it!
I'm impressed with the wide array of artists that collaborated with Tony in this collection of popular standards. Barbra Streisand, Billy Joel, Elton John, Michael Buble, Celine Dion, Diana Krall, and Paul McCartney are just a handful of the performers represented here. Most of the songs are performed in an upbeat, big-band style. I don't think there are any bad tracks on this album, but some of my favorites are "Lullaby of Broadway" (with the Dixie Chicks), "Smile" (with Barbra Streisand), "The Good Life" (with Billy Joel), "For Once in My Life" (with Stevie Wonder), and "The Best is Yet to Come" (with Diana Krall). Then, of course, there's "I Left My Heart in San Francisco," a song that Tony performs in all its glory on his own.
"Duets: An American Classic" is a must-have for any Tony Bennett fan. I enjoy it so much that I don't even mind that Celine Dion is on it!