By Jerry Pearce

“Not just lovers, more than friends. Who knows where one starts, one ends.” – from “Close Enough for Love”

It’s hard to believe that the incomparable Tony Bennett turns ninety in just a few short days (August 3rd). Even at this golden age, he still sings with the vocals and projection of a man far younger, and as the years push forward, his desire to enter the studio and create new music has not wavered. With the beginning of the second decade of this century seeing his first duet album with the equally talented Lady GaGa and strong rumors of a second release featuring the duo in the works, Bennett has kept intact bridges between generations of music thought long lost.

His album with GaGa, the 2014 release “Cheek to Cheek,” was a masterful piece of music, featuring the pair carousing their way through fifteen standards of yesteryear, backed by some marvelous orchestrations written by veteran arranger Marion Evans. Not only is it a pleasurable listening experience, the listener will discover something vital shortly after the beginning of the first track, “Anything Goes.” GaGa, once removed from the fancy electronically-enhanced pop sound she built her career on, has an exemplary, outstanding voice suited for jazz and standards.

This collaboration was the latest featuring Bennett sharing the stage with a guest artist. While Bennett had been recording with Columbia Records since 1950 and is considered one of the oldest classic artists still working with the company, he broke from the label for a number of years in the 1970s, starting and closing his own record label (Improv) before rejoining them with the recording of his first album in nearly ten years at that point, “The Art of Excellence” (1986), a long awaited and well-made album of orchestral standards and love songs combining Bennett’s trio led by Ralph Sharon with a London-based symphony orchestra.

The following years at Columbia would see him recording a number of tribute albums, including Irving Berlin (Bennett/Berlin, 1987), Frank Sinatra (Perfectly Frank, 1992), Fred Astaire (Steppin’ Out, 1993), Billie Holiday (Bennett on Holiday, 1997), Duke Ellington (Hot & Cool: Bennett Sings Ellington, 1999), multiple female artists (Here’s To The Ladies, 1995), and even his hometown of Astoria, Queens (Portrait of the Artist, 1990), and with the turn of the century, a series of duets albums, beginning with a blues-centered selection featuring B.B. King, Sheryl Crow, Natalie Cole, Diana Krall, Kay Starr, and Billy Joel among others (Playing With My Friends, 2001), followed by a collaboration with k.d. lang (A Wonderful World, 2002). These two discs would eventually lead to three more duets albums beginning in 2006, but in between these two quadrants, Bennett would enter the studio in 2004 to record another extraordinary album of straight love songs with no one and tied to no one, and it is perhaps one of the finest solo recordings of his career. This album was called “The Art of Romance.”
Bennett’s son Dae, who had become an accomplished recording engineer over the years, had taken over the former studios of Rudy Van Gelder in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey (where several landmark recordings had been made over the years, for instance, the album John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman) and renamed it Bennett Studios, where “Art,” along with other Bennett recordings of the period, were recorded.

Arranged by veteran Johnny Mandel (with help on a few numbers by Lee Musiker and Jorge Calandrelli), “The Art of Romance” is a unique program of ten songs of varying orchestral intensity and tempo, but tells the story, at least to this author of a disjointed, but meaningful relationship, perhaps a love affair. The accompaniment varies a bit, some tracks featuring Bennett backed solely by his quartet of the period (Lee Musiker on piano, Paul Langosch on bass, Clayton Cameron on drums, Gray Sargent on guitar), others with a lavish symphony orchestra, conducted by Mandel and contractor Jesse Levy.

Joining the cast for this set of a music is master reed player Phil Woods, who supplies tasteful saxophone solos to five of the ten selections, his playing especially inviting and sultry on the opening track, the Mandel-penned “Close Enough for Love.”

My first exposure to the Johnny Mandel song “Where Do You Start?” occurred when I first listened to this album, and the lyrics (penned Alan and Marilyn Bergman), telling the sad story of the separation of possessions (and underlying feelings) at the close of a love affair haven’t lost their touch in the years since their writing (I enjoyed it so much, I included it as a track I recorded during my first studio outing six years ago).

Some could call this Tony Bennett at his most tender. The wistful feelings recollected in the ballads “I Remember You” and “Don’t Like Goodbyes” are brought to life by Bennett’s gentle interpretations of the lyrics, while “Time to Smile,” the only out and out big band swing tune on the album (arranged by Calandrelli), features Tony at his most exuberant, seemingly imploring the listener to shake off the dust of yesterday, rise up and grab the future. Featuring a brass section at full tilt, it’s an exciting moment found midway through the disc.

The tune immediately following, “All For You,” performed by Bennett’s quartet (sweet solo by Gray Sargent) with a light string section, is another unique performance.

Originally, the music was written as an instrumental in 1940 known as “Nuages,” composed by French guitarist Django Reinhardt, translated literally as “Clouds.” Ever ingenuous, Tony Bennett himself penned his own lyrics to sing to the melody, and you’ll soon find upon listening that it functions as a beautiful love ballad.

“Being Alive” is one of those songs that seems a bit out of place on this album, but it ties in well to the message behind the song “Time to Smile.” Beginning with rhythmic piano by Musiker and soon spilling into a raucous conga complete with guest artist Candido Camera working percussion in tandem with Cameron, Bennett with jovial, almost shouting vocals, and Phil Woods jumping in with a memorable sax wail that closes out the track to a tiny squeak. The definition of great artists working together.

Released on November 19, 2004, “The Art of Romance” was spearheaded by a creative ad campaign that aired on several television networks. A rather lackluster evening party is seen, with not much going on, the male and female members in the room separated. The viewer then sees Bennett in attendance, standing in the corner, a wry smile crossing his face as a female hand is scene taking the album out of its case and placing it in the stereo. Soon enough, to the sound of “Close Enough for Love,” male and female members embrace on the dance, Bennett standing in the foreground turning to the camera and giving the audience one of his trademark grins. The album later won the Grammy award for Best Traditional Pop Album, an honor bestowed on Bennett thirteen times (with nineteen Grammies altogether, including 1995 Album of the Year for his performance on “MTV Unplugged,” the performance that signaled his renaissance). A deserved award for a fantastic performance.

You can’t go wrong with any Tony Bennett album, but if the mood calls for a romantic evening, take this cat’s advice. Start with this one.

Until next time, music lovers!

Jerry Pearce is an amateur singer in the vein of Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, and Dick Haymes and has released two discs of standards music, Crossroads in 2010, and One Summer Night in 2016. Samples of his music can be heard on his YouTube Channel. To purchase his CDs use the form box below.

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