In Person! Tony Bennett/Count Basie And His Orchestra [Gold CD]

Tony Bennett, Count Basie | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 28, 1994)
• Original Release Date: 1994
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Gold CD
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B000002A4Q
• Also Available in: Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #363,025 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Just in Time

2. When I Fall in Love

3. Taking a Chance on Love

4. Without a Song

5. Fascinatin' Rhythm

6. Solitude

7. Pennies From Heaven

8. Lost in the Stars

9. Firefly

10. There Will Never Be Another You

11. Lullaby of Broadway

12. Ol' Man River

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Spectacular re-release, January 10, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: In Person! Tony Bennett/Count Basie And His Orchestra (Audio CD)

I bought this album years ago in a bargain bin (on vinyl) for a buck, and loved it. Recently I bought the CD version and realized how great it really is! Turns out that the original vinyl version had a fake "live" audience spliced onto the record. The CD strips that out and just gives you pure, studio-recorded music.

This is a fabulous record for anyone who's a fan of Tony Bennett or big-band singers in general. The Basie band backing is terrific; the sound is great, and Bennett's voice was in top form. If you've only recently become a Bennett fan in the past few years ago, you owe it to yourself to hear his voice when it was in peak form.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bennett and Basie - Count on It!, March 4, 2005

By 

Lawrence E. LaRocco "Sinatra Fanatic" (Berwyn, Illinois) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: In Person! Tony Bennett/Count Basie And His Orchestra (Audio CD)

Tony and Count Basie originally intended to record a live concert at the Latin Casino in late November of 1958. It sold out, of course, but the tapes were unusable. Fortunately, Mitch Miller brought Tony and The Count to the CBS studios in New York to re-record the concert on Dec. 22nd and 30th that year. And thank God he did! What a spectacular collaboration! Tony is in prime form and The Count and his orchestra were never better. This is a Bennett/Basie CD that is not to be missed. It is an absolutely essential purchase for collectors of either one of these Hall-of-Famers. There are SO MANY spectacular tracks that it's hard to pick any favorites. I never thought that anybody could do more justice to "Ol' Man River" than Sinatra did, but the Bennett/Basie version is right there - it's that close. "There Will Never Be Another You" is almost a definitive version, and "Lullaby of Broadway" is prime-time Bennett and Basie. This is not an easy CD to get. You can find it on the Amazon marketplace, but it's expensive. Get it anyway. It is a musical treasure. Too bad they didn't do another dozen. Five stars, spectacular. Buy it. Music just doesn't get any better. Thank you Tony! Thank you Count! I only wish there was more.

5.0 out of 5 stars Bennett's Best, October 18, 2011

By 

Tony Theil (Philadelphia, PA United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: In Person! Tony Bennett/Count Basie And His Orchestra (Audio CD)

This album in Not Live,Not In Person!!! It was recorded in a studio one month after the actual live performance took place. The CD is missing all the live interaction between Bennett, the audience and Basie's Orchestra, which were super-imposed on the vinyl album edition. I own the vinyl and have played it again and again, sucked in by the crowd's enthusiaism. The lively crowd was suppose to be at the Latin Casino in Philly (actually across the bridge in Jersey).

Eventially I got over my disappointment that this was not a live performance. This is arguably Bennett's best performance. The enthusiaism carried-over a month later in the studio - a Mitch Miller production. My favorites are Pennies From Heaven and Old Man River. Bennett really swings on Pennies, contagiously upbeat. Basie's Orchestra is showcased in Old Man River; however, Bennett's phrasing cannot be upstaged.

In spite of the hiss and few minor scratches, I still play the vinyl. It's an experience that the CD has not captured. And I play the CD for its own merits: a beautifully remastered sound recording of Tony Bennett and Count Basie.