With a new album pairing Tony Bennett and Diana Krall, along with Bill Charlap and his trio in support, it seems a good time to post this review, of Tony's work with Lady Gaga, which was released four years to the day before the upcoming album.
Nothing short of thrilling
I’m a big Tony Bennett fan and I’ve really admired the way
he’s reinvented himself on an almost continuous basis, starting with the epic
MTV Unplugged CD in the early ‘90’s. Of course, the duets albums have also been
an incredible sensation, to the point where even other singers will compose
laments to not doing a duet with Mr. Bennett (Kevin Mahogany Old New Borrowed
and the Blues). My awareness of Lady Gaga and her work was, until this
recording, limited to a picture of her in a meat dress and the song “Poker
Face”, which I think I heard once. And until the Wall Street Journal wrote
about this recording, as much as I like Tony Bennett, I had no intention of
purchasing this. But, if the Wall Street Journal tells you a pop star you have
no interest in has serious jazz chops when singing with a jazz legend like Tony
Bennett, you pay attention and buy the recording.
And am I ever glad I did. I absolutely love what Tony and
Lady have done with this collection of standards. They’ve literally made the
songs their own, sung their hearts out, and ended up with what is arguably one
of the best vocal jazz albums to come out in years, if not decades. The
arrangements are all swinging and most use a commanding big band format that is
positively scintillating. On top of that, they’ve chosen a great selection of
songs that encompasses all the highlights of the American songbook: Irving
Berlin, Cole Porter, a couple by Duke Ellington, and a healthy sampling
of the Gershwins, among others. Tony and Lady each take two solos, allowing
them to sort of put their individual stamp on the recording, with Lady’s
soulful rendering of Billy Strayhorn’s Lush Life narrowly edging out Tony’s
Sophisticated Lady for top solo honors. But honestly, the duets are what this
is all about. Tony sings everything pretty straight while solidly swinging,
with his usual panache at lyrical timing and thoughtful song rendering, and
Lady uses her voice to accent each piece. Whether she needs a thumping vibrato
or a soft, still tone, she delivers when and where needed, and the songs’
meaning and feel just jump from the speakers. Even when she’s only speaking a
playful line, as in Goody Goody: “I told you, I’m not a goody, I’m a baddy,”
you can almost see her smile and wink as Tony proceeds to call her “rascal,
you”. I could go on about the other songs that I found impressive, from the
understated elegance of “Nature Boy” to the rousing sendoff of “It Don’t Mean a
Thing”, but I’ll just go with the old cliché and say: there isn’t a bad track
on this recording. The mixing and sound is flawless, and the CD comes with a
generous fold out photo montage on one side and song-by-song musicians’ rosters
on the other. (Jazz aficionados – like me – will appreciate being able to look
up some of the other performers.)
I can’t say enough about this recording. It excites me,
inspires me, calms me and soothes me, thrills me, kills me. It makes my love
for jazz grow and what do you know? It made me a Lady Gaga fan. According to
the Wall Street Journal, Lady is going to release one jazz album a year
“forever”. I for one can’t wait, but I hope this isn’t the end of the
collaboration between these two superlative artists. I’ll be even happier if
Lady shows up as a special unannounced guest performer at the Tony Bennett
concert in Nashville in December (that I already have tickets for), but even if
she doesn’t, I still have this stunningly excellent CD to keep my heart
pounding. It’s just phenomenal and a complete five star no brainer.
