Jazz

Tony Bennett | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 1, 2008)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sbme Special Mkts.
• ASIN: B0012GMW8E
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #18,938 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. I Can't Believe That You're in Love With Me

2. Don't Get Around Much Anymore

3. Stella by Starlight

4. On Green Dolphin Street

5. Let's Face the Music and Dance

6. I'm Thru With Love

7. Solitude [Live]

8. Lullaby of Broadway [Live]

9. Dancing in the Dark

10. I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart

11. When Lights Are Low

12. Just One of Those Things

13. Crazy Rhythm

14. Street of Dreams

15. Love Scene

16. While the Music Plays On

17. Close Your Eyes

18. Out of This World

19. Just Friends

20. Have You Met Miss Jones?

See all 22 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bennett fans - This one is really IT!!!, April 21, 2002

By 

Andy Agree "jackrabbit79" (Omaha, NE) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jazz (Audio CD)

If I were stranded on a desert island for the rest of my life and could have only 5 CDs, this would be one of them. But why? Tony Bennett has made fine music for 50 years, there are 108 Bennett albums listed (today) on Amazon, and although I consider myself a Bennett fan I know only a fraction of his music. So why THIS album? Well, quite simply, I believe it is unique - and even better than his other work.

Tony Bennett has always loved and performed jazz, but his earlier work (through the 60s) - was often more "popular" or "mainstream" than jazz - wonderful, but for a jazz fan, less nourishing. Jazz was something that he snuck into his albums because he loved it. Since the 90s, Tony has been more prolific and popular than ever, and jazz has been his primary idiom - his popularity has given him the freedom to make it so. But his voice, sadly, inevitably, is not what it was. But "Jazz", taken from recordings made from 1954 through 1967, is to my knowledge the only true jazz collection from the period when his vocal powers were at their peak. It also features some of the greatest jazz instrumental performers of that time.

There are 22 songs on the CD, and every one is strong. His moods range from playful to exuberant to gritty dignity in the face of heartbreak, connecting one song to the next with uncanny grace, as if this collection were a single concert instead of a 13-year retrospective. Most of the songs are not well known or often heard, but even those that are familiar to any jazz aficionado, come across as truly his own. For example, he takes the Cole Porter classic "Just One of Those Things" and performs it with only light, frantic drumming backing him, highlighting the casualness with which he dismisses his love affair. Another classic, "Stella By Starlight" is propelled by his soaring vocal - never has any singer sung the phrase "great symphonic themes" with more power than Tony. At the opposite extreme, "While the Music Plays On" and is a full-throated song of the emotional agony of maintaining dignity in the face of a lost lover dancing with a new partner.

I could go on and on about each song, but the plain truth is that each one is Tony Bennett at his absolute, inimitable best. This may be the most essential album for a Bennett fan to have. You will love it!

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best Tony Bennett collection!, June 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Jazz (Audio CD)

This is the best Tony Bennett collection. The large number of lesser known hits, all with a jazz edge, come together into a very consistent and listenable experience. A good overview of his career for the initiate. Very highly recommended even for the long-listener.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bennett's Best, January 14, 2004

By 

Rick Cornell "RC" (Reno, Nv USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Jazz (Audio CD)

If you are familiar with Tony Bennett only from "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" or "MTV Unplugged," and are at all interested in him, listen to this one. This is Bennett's Best. He recorded this in the 1950's, when he was in his prime and his voice had all of the notes. The most stunning cuts from this album are the ones toward the end that he did with Stan Getz ("Out of This World", "Just Friends", "Have You Met Miss Jones" and "Danny Boy"), but the whole album is one glorious romp through the best of Tin Pan Alley. Essential for Bennett fans, and highly recommended for anyone else.