Excuse me if this is a repost, but I just wanted to thank you for your article. I knew you would respond, and no writer could do it better. I was a young Engineer/Mixer when I did the first Bennett/Evans recording, and Co-Produced the second with Helen Keane. What struck me was the incredible respect each artist had for the other. They were both very quiet, but gentle, powerful individuals. I'll always treasure my time with each of them. They're now "Together Again". I love and miss them both.
There are recordings that offer what I call "pure listening"--the kind of listening experience that requires absolute quiet (better without headphones for me), darkness, no visual stimulation--where the body relaxes and the ear can focus on the music, allowing the emotion and nuance, the interpretation and arrangement and the interplay between vocalist and musicians the attention deserved. Always rewarding. The lps by Tony and Bill Evans are at the top of this list.
Thank you for the beautiful tribute. I once ran into Mr. Bennett in the lobby of a DC hotel. It wasn’t long after his Unplugged appearance had revived his image in the popular culture (as a native of San Francisco, I always knew who he was😉).
Anyhow, I was smitten, approached him cautiously and thanked him for entertaining generations of fans. What did he do? He thanked me - throwing in a heartfelt “young man” - for being a fan of his! So gracious and such a gentleman. Hard to think of anyone like him with us still.
RIP Mr. Bennett. The choir of angels just got a little better.
I'd say that if Canova was an attempt to suggest/caricature Bennett, it says a lot more about Allen than it does about Bennett. I know which of them is a greater artist in my mind...by a considerable length.
In the '90s I worked at 55th and 6th Avenue, a few blocks from where Bennett lived on Central Park South. One beautiful sunny day I was crossing 57th Street and he was coming the other way wearing a suit and looking so freaking sharp. As anyone in the city knows, you DO NOT call attention to a celeb. But I couldn't help it. I watched him pass me and said, "Oh my God, that's Tony Bennett." And he turned around and smiled at this kid I was, and I swear, I totally swear, his teeth sparkled in the sunshine.
Jul 21, 2023·edited Jul 22, 2023Liked by Ted Gioia
A wonderful artist and person. My own Tony Bennett story:
Around January 2013, I was hired as a driver by the just-opened SFJAZZ Center. One of my earliest assignments was driving Mr Bennett, who was to be playing a benefit for SFJAZZ at Davies Symphony Hall. Mr. Bennett was of course staying at the storied Fairmont Hotel.
I was to pick him up at the Fairmont and take him to Davies for an afternoon soundcheck the day of the performance. In addition to Mr. Bennett, his “entourage” for that ride consisted of his manager, and his in-laws (his non-present wife was from the SF bay area; her parents still lived there).
I pulled up to the Fairmont, and got out to open doors for them, paying no notice of the large group of autograph seekers in the vicinity (having never encountered autograph seekers for the jazz artists I had driven in the past). When Mr Bennett and his people came out, he and his manager entered the car first, and I was helping his trailing father-in-law put his walker in the trunk. While assisting, a horde of autograph seekers swarmed the car, jutting hands holding signable objects through the car windows I had thoughtlessly left opened (it being a beautiful SF winter’s day, no need to close them or turn on heating), not anticipating what looked to me like a scene from “A Hard Day's Night”.
Tony’s manager yelled at me angrilly to quickly get in the car, shut the windows, and drive off. While I moved frantically, certain that I would be reported and fired for unprofessionalism, I noticed that Mr Bennett was quietly obliging his fans, completely non chagrined, signing and smiling, until I got in, closed the windows, and drove away.
Mr. Bennett spoke not a negative word about the incident. And upon returning to the Fairmont after soundcheck, where his autograph-seeking fans were still in full force, foiled by the car windows kept tightly closed.
Lovely piece. And thanks for posting the video with Bill Charlap--what a masterful, slow-tempo, version, imbued with feeling in every line. It sounds like such a simple thing, but it's rare when singers perform in a way that you hear every word and never lose the sentiment of the song (it's one of the things I love about Judy Garland). And I'll go back to look at those liner notes! I was at the memorial service for Dave Brubeck at St. John the Divine when Tony announced that those recordings had been found and would be released (a very fine Brubeck performance, btw).
42 years ago my wife was hired as an assistant choreographer on a celebrity driven charity show. There was one day she had no one to look after our new baby as I was out of town so the choreographer begrudgingly said it would be okay to bring the baby to rehearsal. Tony Bennett was on stage rehearsing with the orchestra when he suddenly stopped the band and said "Who's baby is that?" My wife was certain that this wasn't going to end well but instead he said, "Bring that baby up here." He proceeded to carry our little boy around while continuing the rehearsal. My wife was thrilled.
Bennett's Unplugged performance made me a life-long fan. As others my age were digging Pearl Jam and such, I was finding my niche with Tony swinging 'Steppin' Out.' How lucky we were to have so long with him.
Another way to phrase “his commitment” to the songs is that very, very few people seemed to enjoy what they do as much as he enjoyed what he did. I saw him at the Newport Jazz Festival about 10 years ago in a rainstorm, and he just made the stage glow.
Thank you, Ted, for this lovely remembrance of this really fine person. Tony Bennett makes all of me smile when I hear him sing. Somehow, his humanity and decency always lift the mood, at least for me. I love the things with Bill Evans, but the two performances I return to often are his album, “Perfectly Frank”, with a really tasteful piano trio led by Ralph Sharon, and the video of Tony and k.d. lang doing “Blue Velvet”. One tune is my very favorite: “Last Night When We Were Young” on the Sinatra tribute album. It ekes out over “Some Other Time”, and so many others.
He is so worthy of celebration and appreciation! I look forward to tomorrow’s list.
After growing up on Led Zeppelin and Ted Nugent and Queen and The Eagles and Aerosmith in the 70's, decades later I began to turn to the classic singers who made their names singing the standards of "The Great American Songbook." At first I listened out of curiosity, just to put voices to the names that were still common when I was growing up. But before long I was listening because of the witty lyrics, the sparkling arrangements, the masterful playing by a literal army army of musicians, and of course, the brilliant, arrogantly confident singing by people like Frank Sinatra, Rosemary Clooney, Bing Crosby, Doris Day, Keely Smith, Nat King Cole, Peggy Lee, and of course, Tony Bennett. Their work is mostly what I listen to now; I still love the music of my youth, but I have found that, for a variety of reasons, the older stuff has worn better; listening to a great song sung by a great singer just gives me immense pleasure. (Yesterday, while looking for something else on Youtube, I saw a Sinatra song - I listened to it and to about four more. I couldn't stop at just one, and I had a big smile on my face the whole time.) Tastes are different and I can't place anyone ahead of Sinatra, but Tony Bennett was a capital G Great Singer. He was the last of the giants., the Last Man Singing.
I also have to say that I actually admire him for his legendarily awful performance in The Oscar. He had no acting talent whatsoever (and even if he had, he wouldn't have been able to do much with the movie's comically terrible dialogue), but he never gives up. The scene near the end of the movie that's his BIG EMOTIONAL MOMENT should be unwatchable, but it's almost inspiring. Bennett knows he's not up to it, but he's like an outclassed boxer who's taken a hell of a beating for fourteen rounds, and still gets up off of his stool for the fifteenth, to give it his best shot; he keeps punching and stays on his feet for three minutes more, taking punishment all the time, because that's his job. The referee (or the director!) should have stopped it, but - Tony Bennett had courage and integrity. Terrible acting or transcendent singing, he gave it all he had. How can you ask for more than that?
Excuse me if this is a repost, but I just wanted to thank you for your article. I knew you would respond, and no writer could do it better. I was a young Engineer/Mixer when I did the first Bennett/Evans recording, and Co-Produced the second with Helen Keane. What struck me was the incredible respect each artist had for the other. They were both very quiet, but gentle, powerful individuals. I'll always treasure my time with each of them. They're now "Together Again". I love and miss them both.
There are recordings that offer what I call "pure listening"--the kind of listening experience that requires absolute quiet (better without headphones for me), darkness, no visual stimulation--where the body relaxes and the ear can focus on the music, allowing the emotion and nuance, the interpretation and arrangement and the interplay between vocalist and musicians the attention deserved. Always rewarding. The lps by Tony and Bill Evans are at the top of this list.
Thank you for the beautiful tribute. I once ran into Mr. Bennett in the lobby of a DC hotel. It wasn’t long after his Unplugged appearance had revived his image in the popular culture (as a native of San Francisco, I always knew who he was😉).
Anyhow, I was smitten, approached him cautiously and thanked him for entertaining generations of fans. What did he do? He thanked me - throwing in a heartfelt “young man” - for being a fan of his! So gracious and such a gentleman. Hard to think of anyone like him with us still.
RIP Mr. Bennett. The choir of angels just got a little better.
Excellent.
I'd say that if Canova was an attempt to suggest/caricature Bennett, it says a lot more about Allen than it does about Bennett. I know which of them is a greater artist in my mind...by a considerable length.
In the '90s I worked at 55th and 6th Avenue, a few blocks from where Bennett lived on Central Park South. One beautiful sunny day I was crossing 57th Street and he was coming the other way wearing a suit and looking so freaking sharp. As anyone in the city knows, you DO NOT call attention to a celeb. But I couldn't help it. I watched him pass me and said, "Oh my God, that's Tony Bennett." And he turned around and smiled at this kid I was, and I swear, I totally swear, his teeth sparkled in the sunshine.
A wonderful artist and person. My own Tony Bennett story:
Around January 2013, I was hired as a driver by the just-opened SFJAZZ Center. One of my earliest assignments was driving Mr Bennett, who was to be playing a benefit for SFJAZZ at Davies Symphony Hall. Mr. Bennett was of course staying at the storied Fairmont Hotel.
I was to pick him up at the Fairmont and take him to Davies for an afternoon soundcheck the day of the performance. In addition to Mr. Bennett, his “entourage” for that ride consisted of his manager, and his in-laws (his non-present wife was from the SF bay area; her parents still lived there).
I pulled up to the Fairmont, and got out to open doors for them, paying no notice of the large group of autograph seekers in the vicinity (having never encountered autograph seekers for the jazz artists I had driven in the past). When Mr Bennett and his people came out, he and his manager entered the car first, and I was helping his trailing father-in-law put his walker in the trunk. While assisting, a horde of autograph seekers swarmed the car, jutting hands holding signable objects through the car windows I had thoughtlessly left opened (it being a beautiful SF winter’s day, no need to close them or turn on heating), not anticipating what looked to me like a scene from “A Hard Day's Night”.
Tony’s manager yelled at me angrilly to quickly get in the car, shut the windows, and drive off. While I moved frantically, certain that I would be reported and fired for unprofessionalism, I noticed that Mr Bennett was quietly obliging his fans, completely non chagrined, signing and smiling, until I got in, closed the windows, and drove away.
Mr. Bennett spoke not a negative word about the incident. And upon returning to the Fairmont after soundcheck, where his autograph-seeking fans were still in full force, foiled by the car windows kept tightly closed.
Lovely piece. And thanks for posting the video with Bill Charlap--what a masterful, slow-tempo, version, imbued with feeling in every line. It sounds like such a simple thing, but it's rare when singers perform in a way that you hear every word and never lose the sentiment of the song (it's one of the things I love about Judy Garland). And I'll go back to look at those liner notes! I was at the memorial service for Dave Brubeck at St. John the Divine when Tony announced that those recordings had been found and would be released (a very fine Brubeck performance, btw).
I had no words. Thank you for yours.
42 years ago my wife was hired as an assistant choreographer on a celebrity driven charity show. There was one day she had no one to look after our new baby as I was out of town so the choreographer begrudgingly said it would be okay to bring the baby to rehearsal. Tony Bennett was on stage rehearsing with the orchestra when he suddenly stopped the band and said "Who's baby is that?" My wife was certain that this wasn't going to end well but instead he said, "Bring that baby up here." He proceeded to carry our little boy around while continuing the rehearsal. My wife was thrilled.
Bennett's Unplugged performance made me a life-long fan. As others my age were digging Pearl Jam and such, I was finding my niche with Tony swinging 'Steppin' Out.' How lucky we were to have so long with him.
Another way to phrase “his commitment” to the songs is that very, very few people seemed to enjoy what they do as much as he enjoyed what he did. I saw him at the Newport Jazz Festival about 10 years ago in a rainstorm, and he just made the stage glow.
A classy tribute to a classy guy. Thanks.
Thank you, Ted, for this lovely remembrance of this really fine person. Tony Bennett makes all of me smile when I hear him sing. Somehow, his humanity and decency always lift the mood, at least for me. I love the things with Bill Evans, but the two performances I return to often are his album, “Perfectly Frank”, with a really tasteful piano trio led by Ralph Sharon, and the video of Tony and k.d. lang doing “Blue Velvet”. One tune is my very favorite: “Last Night When We Were Young” on the Sinatra tribute album. It ekes out over “Some Other Time”, and so many others.
He is so worthy of celebration and appreciation! I look forward to tomorrow’s list.
I’m in tears reading your tribute and beautiful back story about Tony and you as well. Thank you for this sharing.
After growing up on Led Zeppelin and Ted Nugent and Queen and The Eagles and Aerosmith in the 70's, decades later I began to turn to the classic singers who made their names singing the standards of "The Great American Songbook." At first I listened out of curiosity, just to put voices to the names that were still common when I was growing up. But before long I was listening because of the witty lyrics, the sparkling arrangements, the masterful playing by a literal army army of musicians, and of course, the brilliant, arrogantly confident singing by people like Frank Sinatra, Rosemary Clooney, Bing Crosby, Doris Day, Keely Smith, Nat King Cole, Peggy Lee, and of course, Tony Bennett. Their work is mostly what I listen to now; I still love the music of my youth, but I have found that, for a variety of reasons, the older stuff has worn better; listening to a great song sung by a great singer just gives me immense pleasure. (Yesterday, while looking for something else on Youtube, I saw a Sinatra song - I listened to it and to about four more. I couldn't stop at just one, and I had a big smile on my face the whole time.) Tastes are different and I can't place anyone ahead of Sinatra, but Tony Bennett was a capital G Great Singer. He was the last of the giants., the Last Man Singing.
I also have to say that I actually admire him for his legendarily awful performance in The Oscar. He had no acting talent whatsoever (and even if he had, he wouldn't have been able to do much with the movie's comically terrible dialogue), but he never gives up. The scene near the end of the movie that's his BIG EMOTIONAL MOMENT should be unwatchable, but it's almost inspiring. Bennett knows he's not up to it, but he's like an outclassed boxer who's taken a hell of a beating for fourteen rounds, and still gets up off of his stool for the fifteenth, to give it his best shot; he keeps punching and stays on his feet for three minutes more, taking punishment all the time, because that's his job. The referee (or the director!) should have stopped it, but - Tony Bennett had courage and integrity. Terrible acting or transcendent singing, he gave it all he had. How can you ask for more than that?
RIP Anthony Benedetto.