It’s a Blues World for Tony Bennett By Bobbie Katz
He is a world-renowned unparalleled pop singer who has introduced his audiences to the Great American Songbook, and for five decades has remained one of the leading male singers of traditional pop songs. Most incredibly, he has brought his music and vocal style to the MTV generation through groundbreaking music videos and his 1994 Album of the Year MTV Unplugged.
So then, why is Tony Bennett, who will be appearing at Paris Las Vegas for New Year’s, December 29-31, singing the blues? Mainly because these days he’d rather be playing with his friends—the likes of Ray Charles, Natalie Cole, Sheryl Crow, Billy Joel, Diana Krall, B.B. King, k.d. lang, Bonnie Raitt, Kay Starr and Stevie Wonder. That’s entirely on the record—his latest one, Playin’ With My Friends: Tony Bennett Sings The Blues.
“I did Ray Charles’ Everybody Has The Blues with him on my album The Art of Excellence, recalls Bennett, referring to his appropriately titled 1986 watershed collection. “And while I’ve been influenced by jazz through the years, its roots are in the blues. Count Basie was all blues—albeit optimistic blues—and I was the first white guy to sing with him! In fact, my first recording was a blues classic, St. James Infirmary. But I like to be different with each album and the blues is such a change from what most people think of when they think of Tony Bennett—and then to make a record with all these great artists!”
Bennett says that each of the above-named guest artists on Playin’ with My Friends hit a homerun,” even though they all had to adjust to his spontaneous, old-fashioned one-take live studio approach, which usually results in the completion of an entire album recording session in three days. Bennett prefers this live approach because it ensures that his listeners feel that they are sitting there right in the studio with him. “With all the technology, the only thing an artist can contribute to a recording is feeling,” Bennett explains.
Though serendipity no doubt has played a role in the continuing heat surrounding Bennett, he’s not sitting around counting his lucky stars to fulfill his ambitions. At 75, he still does voice warm-ups for about 25 minutes each day and practices scales for 20 minutes, three times a day. He still learns three new songs a week and still adheres to the advice his first music teacher gave him 47 years ago: “eat the right food and get a lot of exercise.” And he still paints daily, even when he’s on the road. For the singer, it’s all summed up in a word that is the cornerstone of his existence: discipline.
“I wish I had been a little more disciplined earlier in my life,” Bennett admits. “I used to do everything, but I’m so much happier now that I feel at one with myself. I also feel great joy in what I’m doing. Discipline has given me a center. It gives me peace of mind and keeps me calm. It also makes me sound better to the audience and do a consistent job. Today, I really appreciate it. Discipline has become my friend.”
Moreover, Bennett has determined that whatever mistakes he has made in his personal life, he has decided to make it a religion to never make those mistakes again. To him, that automatically makes one a good person. “In other words,” he sums up, “the whole secret of success is not money and it’s not power. The greatest success any individual can have is just to be a good person. I’ve arrived at that and I’m going to spend the rest of my life honing it even more.” Even if he does keep on singing the blues!
