[Dixielandjazz] Tony Bennett at the Sonoma Jazz & Wine Festival

[TCASHWIGG at aol.com]

In a message dated 5/5/05 5:53:46 AM Pacific Daylight Time, 
mike at michaelcryer.com writes:

> 
> I have really been getting into Tony Bennett a lot lately. I like his 
> style and he has a great personality. Sinatra really wasn't a nice guy 
> most times.
> 
> Mike
> 

I think the difference between Bennett and Sinatra was very similar to that 
of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis.  Personality wise.  Or Sammy Davis Jr. & Don 
Rickels. 
Or how about Louis Armstrong and Miles Davis ?

 However they all found their specific audience and played to them.

And I might add not a lot different from the personalities of many other Jazz 
greats or entertainers off camera.  We are indeed a complex lot who often 
approach life from separate routes.  Some with niceness and kindness and audience 
appreciation with an understanding that without them and being able to make 
them happy, we have little hope of being happy ourselves.  Then there are 
others with bitterness and malice towards audiences who eventually end up feeling 
unloved and or under appreciated and or worse yet simply ignored and 
frustrated.

Audience Respect and loyalty is something you Earn it is not a Constitutional 
right for all artists just because you play or sing or dance well.  Without 
an audience to expose it to and appreciate it "it don't mean a thing even if it 
swings"

Cheers,

Tom Wiggins

I too like Tony Bennett, but then again I always have.  A Class act if there 
ever was one.