[Dixielandjazz] Why Tony Bennett?

[Stephen G Barbone]

Why Tony Bennett at a Jazz Festival? See below:

Cheers,

Steve Barbone

www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband





One-of-a-kind Tony Bennett wows 'em at Jazz Fest

Chris Rose posted this:

Tony Bennett performed Friday, May 1, 2009 at the New Orleans Jazz  
Festival
There are the sacred musical families of New Orleans. I don't need to  
list them here. If you found this blog, you know the drill.

But I would like to add one more to the list - or bestow, at least,  
honorary citizenship upon the Bennett family of, well - where are they  
from? Weren't they born in a Cole Porter tune?

Antonia Bennett warmed up the crowd before her father, Tony, took the  
Gentilly Stage Friday afternoon, bringing a hefty dose of Vegas - and  
world class, um, class - to the closing set of the day.

In one of the unlikeliest - of many, many unlikely - bookings to grace  
a Jazz Fest stage in recent years, Tony Bennett delivered a huge  
crowd, packed to a standstill in the usually-negotiable walkways of  
Gentilly Meadow.

Whether you were there because you're an ironic hipster or you were  
there because you listened to Tony on your honeymoon 50 years ago, the  
music struck a chord. How many Jazz Fest artists introduce a song by  
saying, "Liza Minnelli won an Academy Award with this one."

Well, maybe Chris Owens. And Ricky Graham, if he played Jazz Fest,  
which I don't think he does.

Point being: Safe to say, New Orleans - and our out-of-town visitors -  
took the Tonester into their hearts. I mean, how could you not love  
this guy?

He sang:

"They all laughed at Christopher Columbus
When he said the world was round
They all laughed when Edison recorded sound..."

And, yea - many laughed when they announced Tony Bennett was playing  
Jazz Fest. Yes, he is a jazz singer, but....

But, like the song goes: "Who's Got the Last Laugh Now?" Anyone who  
saw the show, that's who.

A legend in our midst. One of the all-time greats. Back when radio  
mattered. He rolled out the hit parade: "For Once in My Life," "The  
Best Is Yet to Come," "Shadow of Your Smile." He paused in the middle  
of "The Good Life" to dedicate the song to Britney Spears.

Oh, Irony, I am your servant.

He mugged through the opening notes of "Do You Know What It Means to  
Miss New Orleans," before halting and launching into his best known  
number (is there such a thing in the case of Tony Bennett?) "I Left My  
Heart in San Francisco."

As Chris Granger / The Times-Picayune said; Tony Bennett sang the  
songbook on the Gentilly Stage at Jazz Fest.
Throughout the show, I couldn't help but want to call: "Waiter! Oh,  
waiter! Another round for my friends!"

Because it is a good life indeed. A crazy good life. It was a crazy  
good show. Like Jazz Fest producer Quint Davis proclaimed from the  
stage: "Tony Bennett! The Giant of American Song!" Note for every  
champagne-soaked note.

And it all goes to show: What happens in Vegas may stay in Vegas, but  
what happens in New Orleans. . . stays in your heart forever.



And here is a comment from an audience member:


Chris, you nailed it. I was at the Gentilly Stage all day (for a  
reason). The so-called "sacred ones" B-S'ed their way through their  
sets on stage, playing maybe 3 or 4 tunes in between the political,  
parental, and sometimes incoherent diatribes. They worried about their  
stage monitors, drum microphones, kids on stage and other crap instead  
of playing music.
Tony Bennett came out and performed what seemed like an endless stream  
of 20 tunes one after another with a smile on his face and a salute to  
his band at every turn. What an absolute professional performer.
I'm 45, not an aging hipster by any means, or a long-time Tony Bennett  
fan - although I caught him once in Vegas. But the man blew me away.  
He is by far the best performer I've seen at the Fest yet this year.