Tony Bennett & Bill Charlap – The Songs of Jerome Kern
After the disappointing album with Lady Gaga which went to Number 1 and won a Grammy Award, Tony is back with a set of songs from one of the most important composers of the Great American Songbook: Jerome Kern. His impeccable swing and sure-fire intonation still brilliantly intact at 89 years old, Tony is accompanied here by one of the finest pianists of his generation: the wonderful Bill Charlap who has performed and recorded some very nice standards material with his mother, Sandy Stewart. Bill is accompanying Tony alone, with his regular trio consisting of Peter Washington and Kenny Washington (not related) and some duo recordings with his wife, pianist Renee Rosnes.
The way both Bill and Renee are in sync on “The Song Is You” sounds like magic and most of the interpretations here are simply classic examples of how the songs of Jerome Kern should be addressed. The unagitated elegance of “They Didn’t Believe Me” (recorded with the trio) is pure joy. On “I’m Old Fashioned”, he’s more of a narrator, on “The Way You Look Tonight”, the caressing crooner and he still has amazing lung power, proven on “Yesterdays”, for example.
You could almost say unapologetically that Tony and Bill have created several definitive versions of Jerome Kern’s vast output, like for example of what is used as the title track of this classic album, “Look For The Silver Lining”.
Tony is on tour throughout the US until March 2016.
