[Dixielandjazz] Why Tony Bennett?

[Hal Vickery]

Tony was and always has been a proponent of MKOM.  I saw him perform at a local theater years ago with Woody Herman's band when Herman was still alive.  He was terrific.  That had to be twenty years ago.  One of the great singers of our time.

Hal Vickery
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Stephen G Barbone<mailto:barbonestreet at earthlink.net> 
  To: Hal Vickery<mailto:hvickery_80 at msn.com> 
  Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List<mailto:dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com> 
  Sent: Monday, May 04, 2009 10:08 AM
  Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Why Tony Bennett?


  Why Tony Bennett at a Jazz Festival? See below:

  Cheers,

  Steve Barbone

  www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband<http://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.
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