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"Where Do You Start?...How Do You Separate The Present Form The Past?" Aug 25, 2009
This recording won the Best Traditional Vocal Pop Album in the 48th Annual Grammy Awards. My congratulations to Tony Bennett, conductor/arranger Johnny Mandel, arranger/pianist Lee Musiker, arranger Jorge Calandrelli, producers Phil Ramone and Danny Bennett, and the rest of the talented musicians involved in such a remarkable recording.
The repertoire consists of eleven slow tempo ballads that reflect the joy and pain of love and romance. These songs are seldom recorded but were made so remarkable and worthy to any music lover with Johnny Mandel's rich orchestration and superb arrangements as well as Tony Bennett's elegant style of singing. The quality of his voice never changes, there's still that eternal glow in his voice akin to a fine wine that enhances its richness with the passage of time. His vocal elegance has that special kind of power that gets to the listener's ears and evokes a wonderful marriage of elegance and power, and to think that he was in his late seventies when this album was recorded in 2004.
Tony Bennett is not only a great singer but also a talented songwriter as he penned the lyrics of one of the highlights of this album, "All For You," which was adapted from "Nuages" by one of guitar legends, Django Reinhardt. He also gave "I Remember You" the retire-the-trophy treatment and Johnny Mandel presented his flawless arrangement to make this version stand out. It's simply *the best* version I've ever heard so far. I love the tempo on Lee Musiker-arranged-track, Johnny Mandel and David Frishberg's "Little Did I Dream," which features Phil Woods on sax.
Another stand out is his heartfelt and moving interpretation of "Where Do You Start?" -- a poignant song penned by the brilliant team of Alan and Marilyn Bergman and the melody was composed by a gifted Oscar-winning composer and arranger, Johnny Mandel.
"Where do you start?
How do you separate the present from the past?
How do you deal with all the things
you thought would last, that didn't last?
With bits of memories scattered here and there
I look around and don't know where to start
Which books are yours?
Which tapes and dreams belong you
And which are mine?"
Mr. Bennett is also a creative artist having done some artworks and portraits of the fine musicians in this album as shown on the CD inside cover: Gray Sargent (guitar), Lee Musiker (piano), Clayton Cameron (drums), Paul Langosch (bass) and Candido Camero (congas on "Being Alive"). He paints under the name of Anthony Benedetto, his birth name. I'm so impressed with his incredible works of art. I've checked out some of his artworks and I would say they're so charming, especially his watercolor paintings of still life flowers and oil paintings of landscapes.
Thanks so kindly to a friend of mine who recommended this CD to me. It's a CD to treasure and enjoy forever. This is truly an award-winning album. I wholeheartedly recommend it for your listening enjoyment.
who is the alto player? Dec 23, 2008
5 big stars!but who is the alto sax player? wow.if you like (dont like goodbyes) listen to bill henderson on his vee jay vol.2 album.
Soothing Music Nov 19, 2008
I love this CD. It is so wonderful to listen to when you want to unwind after a long day or sitting with someone you love discussing the day. This will be one of my favorites for a long, long time.
Oh, My How Wonderful Sep 13, 2008
Simply put, I adore this collection. Like most people, I have a few Tony Bennett CD's in my collection. I listen to them at various times, but until I found this one, I wouldn't say I am a serious fan; you just have to like a man who works so hard to entertain and share his joy of life. But, this CD is different. It's much more intimate and poignant. It's almost as if you have come across Mr. Bennett singing to himself for his own enjoyment. These are songs he'd sing around the house or while he's alone. As he matures through life, we've had the pleasure of being part of that journey and with this CD, we see the depth of his personality and the simplicity of his approach to serious things. It's a master class in how the most complex things can be made joyously simple in the hands of a true master. Thank you, Tony.
12 of 13 found the following review helpful:
an excellent Tony Bennett album May 31, 2008
The Art Of Romance is a fine Tony Bennett CD of him singing his heart out on these great and classic love songs. The quality of the sound is excellent; and the artwork is very thoughtfully done. This is a wonderful CD for Tony's fans; and it makes a great starter CD for people new to Tony's artistry.
The CD starts with Tony Bennett singing so well on "Close Enough For Love;" he massages the lyrics to this song and this is anything but elevator music! Tony never misses a beat and despite his age he truly sounds as good as he ever did. "Close Enough For Love" is an excellent starting tune for this album and I predict you'll like it very much. "All In Fun" is a poignant love song with Tony singing a number of somewhat staccato notes to make this number a special one; the elegant piano arrangement is very well done and it never takes the spotlight away from Tony--great! Tony Bennett is in his true element here; he sings these ballads with lots of feeling and that's grand.
"Where Do You Start" has Tony squarely in the spotlight--and that's OK by me! I really like "Where Do You Start;" and the lush musical arrangement complements Tony's singing to perfection. "I Remember You" is a tune that shines so brightly when Tony delivers it with this stunning arrangement; it moves a little bit slower than I'm used to--but make no mistake about it, Tony does this with panache and it's all very impressive.
"All For You" showcases Tony's incredible voice; it ahs deepened a bit with time but his voice is still quite good and "All For You" is easily a major highlight of this album. Tony performs "All For You" with all his heart and soul and just one listen proves it. "The Best Man" gets a jazzy, somewhat upbeat melody and Tony swings and sways brightly as he sings this without a superfluous note! "The Best Man" tells a story that isn't always so happy but the song is still very good and great to hear.
"Don't Like Goodbyes" has a very lush musical arrangement that helps make this number a great one; and Tony aces this easily. Of course, we know that it really wasn't so easy--Tony's talents always carried him through and he could make it look easy because he was so naturally gifted. There's also a song called "Being Alive;" "Being Alive" isn't exactly my favorite tune on this album but it does work well.
The CD ends very strong with Tony Bennett performing "Gone With The Wind." "Gone With The Wind" comes from the movie of the same name and it makes a stunning conclusion to this album. Wow!
Tony Bennett is one of the very best male vocalists we've ever seen; and this CD will be a very big plus for his fans. Thank you, Tony!
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