Tony Bennett - The Playground
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Music CD Cover
Artist: Tony BennettEdition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 1998-09-29
Music Label: Sony
Soundtracks:
- The Playground
- Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive
- Dat Dere
- Little Things - Tony Bennett With Elmo
- Put On A Happy Face - Tony Bennett With Rosie O'Donnell
- Because We're Kids
- My Mom
- Swinging On A Star
- Bein' Green - Tony Bennett With Kermit The Frog
- Firefly - Tony Bennett With Kermit The Frog
- When You Wish Upon A Star
- (It's Only) A Paper Moon
- The Inch Worm
- The Bare Necessities
- Make The World Your Own
- All God's Chillun Got Rhythm
- Christmas In Harold Square
Free Music Notes for The Playground
Free Music Review: Tony rejuvenated
Hit: 4 Stars
This isn't quite the "sleeper" that "On Holiday" is (as good as any Bennett album I've heard), but it's awfully appealing, with the vocalist's execution of Jon Hendricks' tricky lyrics to "Dat Dere" standing out as an album highlight. This kind of material seems ideally suited to Bennett's timbre (raspy and muted in the middle, penetrating and full on top) more than the pop-Wagnerian "romantic" arrangements and productions that he's so frequently saddled with. (There's no more apt metaphor for the language of music than "playground.")
I've learned not to place bets on what kids will take to (my 3-year-old granddaughter can handle many more hours of classical ballet at a sitting than I). A number of these songs are about an adult's remembrance of "childhood" but not necessarily "for" children. Nevertheless, it's very possible a younger listener will respond favorably to "visceral" musical elements that the nostalgic adult misses. From my perspective, the insertion, on several tracks, of funny voices (Sesame Street characters and Rosie O'Donnell) is a blot on the proceedings, but if they work to get the little player's attention, great. (Otherwise, double the shame.) The final Christmas song feels like a gratuitous, unthematic intrusion (even as a postlude). But this is a 17-song performance, 12 of which leave virtually nothing to be desired. For this session to be out of print a mere ten years after its release--and with the singer riding a renewed surge of high-profile popularity--simply defies comprehension. What a fickle marketplace (kids have longer attention spans than today's consumer).
The Playground Poster
Tony Bennett's career was revitalized in the 1990s when a whole new generation was exposed to him via his turn on MTV Unplugged. But he spent most of the decade recording albums on which he demonstrated his love for Frank Sinatra (Perfectly Frank), Billie Holiday (Here's to the Ladies), Count Basie (Basie Swings, Bennett Sings), and, on The Playground, children. That he succeeds here--elegantly, as always--is due as much to his classic style as to the way he refuses to sing down to the intended audience. Even his kid-friendly duets with Kermit the Frog, Elmo, and Rosie O'Donnell are handled with dignity, though a few songs--including "My Mom" and "Being Green," with Kermit--are paced so leisurely that some children's attention may wander. They're well made up for with the bouncy, invigorating "Firefly" (also with Kermit), "The Bare Necessities," and the rest of the sing-along encouraging songs. --Randy SilverJazz Music CDs
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Top music charts in Sony Family Artists: Great Kids' Music for the Whole Family
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