Tony Bennett, smooth at 92
His life in music still feels new. Interview,
It has been 67 years since Tony Bennett topped the charts with his first million-selling hit, “Because of You.”
By the time he won his first two Grammys 12 years later for “I Left My Heart in San Francisco,” the star had refined his approach and found the voice that would sustain him as one of the most acclaimed song stylists ever.
No less an authority than Frank Sinatra told Life magazine in 1965: “For my money, Tony Bennett is the best singer in the business, the best exponent of a song. He excites me when I watch him – he moves me.”
Released in 2015, his latest album finds the singer exploring the songs of Jerome Kern a year after topping the charts with “Cheek to Cheek,” a wellreceived collection of duets with Lady Gaga on such standards as “Anything Goes” and “Nature Boy.”
He was 88 when “Cheek to Cheek,” which takes its name from a 1935 Irving Berlin tune, hit No. 1.
Who does that?
Tony Bennett does that.
Given his enduring influence as a masterful interpreter of the great American songbook, it makes sense that last year he became the first recipient of the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song to win that honor based not on his songwriting but on the strength of what he brings to other people’s songs.
We caught up with Bennett by email to talk about his life in music and his tour with daughter Antonia Bennett.
On winning the Gershwin Prize
Question: Congratulations on being chosen as last year’s recipient of the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song.
Tony Bennett: It was such a thrill to get the news that they had decided to present to me as a “song interpreter.” The first record I ever made in 1949 was “Fascinating Rhythm” when I was just starting out and using the stage name Joe Bari, so to receive the Gershwin Prize at the age of 91 was an exceptional honor. (Bennett turned 92 on Aug. 3.)
Q: You’ve obviously covered many Gershwin standards. Do you have a favorite?
Bennett: That’s very tough to pick, but like so many songwriters of that golden age, Fred Astaire was the premiere singer to introduce a song, so the Gershwins wrote “They Can’t Take That Away From Me” for Astaire for the film “Shall We Dance?” It still is one of my all-time favorite Gershwin songs AND songs introduced by Fred Astaire.
Q: What do you think it was that made their writing special?
Bennett: It was at the time and still today a purely American sound, both in the lyrics and melody. It’s astonishing especially in light of George Gershwin’s untimely death at the age of 38.
On touring in his 90s
Q: How does it feel to still be out there touring and performing live at your age?
Bennett: I feel great, and my whole life, my premise was just to entertain people and make them feel good. So if for a few hours onstage I can make the audience forget about their worries and problems ... then it keeps me going.
Q: I would imagine you enjoyed the many tributes from other artists on “Tony Bennett Celebrates 90: The Best Is Yet to Come.”
Bennett: It has meant the world to me. ... And the best birthday present of all was that my son Dae, who produced the album, won a Grammy for it.
Q: You sang with Billy Joel at the birthday celebration and you cut an album of duets with Lady Gaga in 2014. What makes a good duet partner?
Bennett: I like a contrast when you sing a duet with someone. It’s what makes it most interesting. If the voices sound too much alike, then it becomes more of a chorus than a duet. We handpicked everyone on the “Duets” projects so that it would be a good fit, and I think each and every one of the tracks on those albums had their own style and feel to it, which was what we intended.
Of course, I just love Lady Gaga, and we so enjoyed singing “Lady Is a Tramp” on “Duets II” that we decided to make a full album together and then tour. She just gets better and better.
On what he looks for in a song
Q: You’ve sung so many classics by so many of the greatest writers in the history of song. What does Tony Bennett look for in a song?
Bennett: Art is communication. So in order for me to perform a song, it has to connect with me in a certain way so that I know that I can convey both the lyrics and the melody. ... Sometimes it’s the melody that catches me first, and other times it’s the lyrics. But if I don’t feel that buzz inside when I hear a song, then I know it’s not for me.
The Tony Bennett family
Q: You’re touring with your daughter Antonia, who’s opening the concert with a collection of jazz and pop standards. How does it feel to see her continue in the same tradition?
Bennett: There is nothing better, and when Antonia was a little girl and I was performing in L.A., she would often come onstage and sing a song, as she loved performing for an audience. So to see her develop into this wonderful jazz singer over the years is very special.
I love the fact that my family is involved with my career. My son Danny is my manager, my other son, Dae, produces my albums, and my granddaughter Kelsey is a photographer, so many of the images you see of me are taken by her.
I got my first encouragement as a child from my Italian-American family when they would sit in a circle on Sunday afternoons and ask my brother, sister and I to perform for them. It was during those days that I discovered that I wanted to be an entertainer.
On his new book
Q: Your latest book is called “Just Getting Started.” Could you talk about the inspiration for that book?
Bennett: I was fortunate enough to work on that book with a brilliant journalist, Scott Simon from NPR, so we set up a series of conversations over several months and he asked me about all the people who I admired and learned from through the years, and then he would write each chapter and show it to me.
He not only captured what I wanted to convey about the person we focused on in each chapter, but he added historical context and biographical detail so that anyone who reads the book will learn a lot about the history of American entertainment.
“For me to perform a song, it has to connect with me. ... If I don’t feel that buzz inside, then I know it’s not for me.”
Q: Does it feel like you’re just getting started?
Bennett: Absolutely, as each day I just want to get better and better and hopefully learn something new as well.