A Wonderful World

Tony Bennett, K. D. Lang | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 5, 2002)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B00006LFGF
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (98 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,681 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #22 in Music > Broadway & Vocalists > Classic Vocalists
  • #43 in Music > Pop > Vocal Pop > Classic
  • #57 in Music > Broadway & Vocalists > Vocal Jazz

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Never mind the project's odd couple, "He's got a girlfriend; so does she" marketing shuck. This is a musical love affair in all its splendor. Produced by the seemingly chameleonic producer T Bone Burnett (who previously revived traditional bluegrass with spectacular success on O Brother, Where Art Thou?), the septuagenarian legend and his unlikely contemporary foil affectionately court a dozen songs from the Louis Armstrong repertoire with the warmth and natural grace that have been a deceptively effortless Bennett trademark for 50-plus years. The pair kick proceedings off with a playful, irony-free "Exactly Like You," then perform a tender vocal waltz across both the ages and the masterful, sympathetic orchestrations of the late Peter Matz, one of Bennett's longtime collaborators. But it's on the more melancholy performances, like "If We Never Meet Again," "I'm Confessin'," and the Armstrong perennials "Wonderful World" and "Lucky Old Sun," that the pair tap into something akin to timeless musical telepathy. Her own talents hardly in need of burnishing, lang invests the project with some gratifying new smokiness and is rewarded with a postgraduate course in saloon singing for the ages. It's an album that begs the best kind of question: When do we get an encore? --Jerry McCulley

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

77 of 81 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Another exquisite release from Tony Bennett... November 6, 2002

By Douglas J. Richardson

Format:Audio CD

Since his return to Columbia Records in the 1980s, Tony Bennett has released albums of the best quality...this is one of the best from his already awe-inspiring catalog.

To give equal credit, kd lang has one of the best voices in American music...the combination of their voices is magical.

There is almost no hint of the vocal decline in Bennett's voice that I had been noticing in his most recent albums, such as the Billie Holiday tribute. He sounds to me almost 15 years younger.

Louis Armstrong was a good friend of Tony Bennett's, and I'm confident that Armstrong would be most flattered by the tribute on this album.

This album proves that Tony Bennett, more than anybody else, is keeping the Great American songbook alive and relevant.

I only wish it were longer...it's just 43 minutes. If Sony and the other companies keep raising prices, the consumer deserves a longer product. But at least with a compact disc player you can hit repeat...which I guarantee you will do with this album.

I've listened to hundreds of discs this year, and I'd have to say that this is perhaps the best...a true recording highlight for 2002. This is what sound recording should be all about.

45 of 46 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Bennett still a legend at 75 November 7, 2002

By A Customer

Format:Audio CD

Tony Bennett sounds on this album as good as he sounded twenty years ago. The slightly cracked quality in his voice remains, but he struggles less with long notes than on his most recent albums. In particular, this album is a massive leap forward from the eclectic showboating of Playin' With My Friends.

It has long been a mystery to Bennett fans why Mr B did not do a full album with k.d. lang much sooner - their voices blend together so perfectly.

Here, Tony Bennett is paying tribute to a man he cares about - Louis Armstrong. He is singing material that he empathises with - no modern concessions. The arrangements on the album are superb - and hint back to his best work of the 1960s.

In short this is an album by an artist, who, whilst no longer at the peak of his powers, is still able to deliver a fine performance when focused on the material. He finds that focus on this splendid album.

36 of 36 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars "You Can Depend On..." This One December 21, 2002

By Jeremiah O. Teague

Format:Audio CD

Louis Armstrong is my favorite instrumentalist AND vocalist of all time. So, we have Tony Bennett (the best old style jazz singer still kicking) and K.D. Lang...well, what do you say about K.D. Lang? Just the best voice in so-called country and easily one of the top four vocalists in jazz (with Cassandra Wilson, Diane Reeves and Diana Krall). Now we have these premier singers doing Louie songs. How about that cover of "Exactly Like You". Oh man. I listened to that one four times before I went on the rest of the album. Every song is exquisite. "What a Wonderful World" is my numero uno song on the hit parade of all songs ever written. What a great cover. And dig that cover of "Lucky Old Sun". Whoa. I had to go through that one three times before moving on to "If We Never Meet Again".

So on my fifth listening to this CD, I'd say T-Bone hit another one out of the park...