Tony Bennett & Bill Evans

Tony Bennett & Bill Evans - The Tony Bennett Bill Evans Album - 1975 - Fantasy

In 1975, Tony Bennett was not known for small-scale, cabaret-style sonic settings. Nor was jazz innovator Bill Evans known for working with "pop" singers. As this landmark collaboration (so satisfying it prompted a successor) proved, the pair were eminently compatible. Both possessed an unparalleled sensitivity and an ability to scale dynamic extremes from subtlety to bravura. Bennett sings with unprecedented delicacy and intimacy over Evans's technicolor arrangements. The latter's piano textures are complex, elegant and endlessly shifting as they accompany Bennett's tender ministrations on a program of mostly standards. So definitive is the singer's work here that Bennett neophytes could safely begin their exploration with this album. Recorded at Fantasy Studios, Berkeley, California between June 10 & 13, 1975. This album is magnificent, and a true jazz classic. Highly recommended by A.O.O.F.C

TRACKS

"Young and Foolish" (Albert Hague, Arnold B. Horwitt) – 3:55
"The Touch of Your Lips" (Ray Noble) – 3:57
"Some Other Time" (Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden, Adolph Green) – 4:44
"When in Rome" (Cy Coleman, Carolyn Leigh) – 2:56
"We'll Be Together Again" (Carl Fischer, Frankie Laine) – 4:39
"My Foolish Heart" (Ned Washington, Victor Young) – 4:50
"Waltz for Debby" (Bill Evans, Gene Lees) – 4:06
"But Beautiful" (Johnny Burke, Jimmy Van Heusen) – 3:37
"Days of Wine and Roses" (Henry Mancini, Johnny Mercer) – 2:21

PERSONNEL

Tony Bennett - vocals
Bill Evans - piano

REVIEWS

Having completed his relatively brief sojourn with MGM/Verve in 1973, Tony Bennett was in the midst of forming his own label, Improv Records, when he made a deal with jazz pianist Bill Evans to cut two LPs, this one for Evans' label, Fantasy Records, with another to follow on Improv. The singer and his collaborator ("accompanist" does not adequately describe Evans' contribution, and in any case he received co-billing) got together in a recording studio over four days in June 1975 with no one other than the producer, Helen Keane, and an engineer present, and quickly recorded one of the best albums of either's career. For Bennett, it was a dream project; for years (decades, actually), he had been balancing the demands of commerciality with his own inclinations toward jazz and affection for the songs of Broadway masters and of the Great American Songbook. Left to himself with a jazz partner, he naturally gravitated toward both interests. There were songs here that he had already recorded, but never in so unadorned, and yet fully realized a fashion. Evans was an excellent accompanist, using his steady left hand to keep his singer centered, but ready, whenever the vocals were finished, to go off into his characteristically lyrical playing. Bennett could seem a bit earthbound when he came back in (he still wasn't really a jazz singer), but his obvious enthusiasm for the project, coupled with his mastery of phrasing in songs he understood perfectly made him an equal in the partnership. As far as the major-label record business was concerned, the 46-year-old singer might have been over the hill and indulging himself, but in fact he was in his prime and finally able to pursue his ambitions unfettered, and that would prove itself a major boost to his career over time. For the moment, he'd made an excellent jazz-pop hybrid in which both musicians were shown off to advantage. © William Ruhlmann © 2007 All Media Guide, LLC. All Rights Reserved
Bill Evans rarely accompanied singers. Tony Bennett's flawless ear told him that Evans' sensitivity, touch and deep harmonic wisdom would make him a perfect collaborator. Evan's lyrical, singing piano lines illuminate Bennett's supreme interpretation of lyrics. "Overall, this fine new audiophile remastering reinforces the warmth of the sound and the rich intimacy of the two innovators, seemingly overheard in the process of pure creation." © Chip Stern.

Bill Evans (Bio)

Bill Evans was one of the most influential pianists of jazz. He developed the style of "rootless voicings" in which the chord emphasizes some essential notes, but the bassist will often play the root. Evans also used the sustaining pedal extensively but subtly. His impressionist, classical inspired playing was an influence on Herbie Hancock, Keith Jarrett, and Chick Corea. Evans felt pianists should be proficient in technique and harmony in order to best express themselves. He also increased the interplay between the leader and the bassist and drummer in his piano trios.
Evans was born in 1929. While in college, he played with Mundell Lowe and Red Mitchell. Evans made his recording debut as leader of a trio in 1956. He also recorded with Charles Mingus and George Russell. In 1958 Evans playedon Miles Davis' Kind Of Blue album. His 1959-61 trio with Scott LaFaro and Paul Motian was one of the greatest of the genre. LaFaro died in a car accident and later recordings featured Eddie Gomez most extensively on bass and Marty Morell on drums. Gary Peacock, Philly Joe Jones, Jack DeJohnette, and many others also passed through his trio. Evans also recorded solo, in duos, and in large groups with Lee Konitz, Zoot Sims, Freddie Hubbard, and others. In 1978 he formed a new trio with Marc Johnson and Joe LaBarbera which was considered his best since 1961. Evans drug problems contributed to his death from a stomach ulcer in 1980. Copyright © 2007 Princeton Record Exchange, Inc. All rights reserved

Tony Bennett (Bio)

Tony Bennett's career has enjoyed three distinct phases, each of them very successful. In the early '50s, he scored a series of major hits that made him one of the most popular recording artists of the time. In the early '60s, he mounted a comeback as more of an adult-album seller. And from the mid-'80s on, he achieved renewed popularity with generations of listeners who hadn't been born when he first appeared. This, however, defines Bennett more in terms of marketing than music. He himself probably would say that, in each phase of his career, he has remained largely constant to his goals of singing the best available songs the best way he knows how. Popular taste may have caused his level of recognition to increase or decrease, but he continued to sing popular standards in a warm, husky tenor, varying his timing and phrasing with a jazz fan's sense of spontaneity to bring out the melodies and lyrics of the songs effectively. By the start of the 21st century, Bennett seemed like the last of a breed, but he remained as popular as ever.
Bennett grew up in the Astoria section of the borough of Queens in New York City under the name Anthony Dominick Benedetto. His father, a grocer, died when he was about ten after a lingering illness that had forced his mother to become a seamstress to support the family of five. By then, he was already starting to attract notice as a singer, performing beside Mayor Fiorello La Guardia at the opening of the Triborough Bridge in 1936. By his teens, Bennett had set his sights on becoming a professional singer. After briefly attending the High School of Industrial Arts (now known as the High School of Art and Design), where he gained training as a painter, he dropped out of school at 16 to earn money to help support his family, meanwhile also performing at amateur shows. Upon his 18th birthday in 1944, he was drafted into the army, and he saw combat in Europe during World War II. Mustered out in 1946, he went back to trying to make it in music, and he attended the American Theater Wing on the GI Bill. By the end of the 1940s, he had acquired a manager and was working regularly around New York. He got a break when Bob Hope saw him performing with Pearl Bailey in Greenwich Village and put him into his stage show, also suggesting a name change to Tony Bennett. In 1950, Columbia Records AR director Mitch Miller heard his demonstration recording of "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" and signed him to the label.
Bennett's first hit, "Because of You," topped the charts in September 1951, succeeded at number one by his cover of Hank Williams' "Cold, Cold Heart." Following another five chart entries over the next two years, he returned to number one in November 1953 with "Rags to Riches." Its follow-up, "Stranger in Paradise" from the Broadway musical +Kismet, was another chart-topper, and in 1954 Bennett also reached the Top Ten with Williams' "There'll Be No Teardrops Tonight" and "Cinnamon Sinner." The rise of rock roll in the mid-'50s made it more difficult for Bennett to score big hits, but he continued to place singles in the charts regularly through 1960, and even returned to the Top Ten with "In the Middle of an Island" in 1957. Meanwhile, he was developing a nightclub act that leaned more heavily on standards and was exploring album projects that allowed him to indulge his interest in jazz; notably 1957's The Beat of My Heart, on which he was accompanied mainly by jazz percussionists, and 1959's In Person With Count Basie and His Orchestra. By the early '60s, although he had faded as a singles artist, he had built a successful career making personal appearances and recording albums of well-known songs in the manner of Frank Sinatra.
In 1962, Bennett introduced "I Left My Heart in San Francisco," a ballad written by two unknown songwriters, George Cory and Douglass Cross, who had pitched it to his pianist, Ralph Sharon. Released as a single by Columbia, the song took time to catch on, and although it peaked only in the Top 20, it remained on one or the other of the national charts for almost nine months. It became Bennett's signature song and pushed his career to a higher level. The I Left My Heart in San Francisco album reached the Top Five and went gold, and the single won Bennett Grammy Awards for Record of the Year and Best Solo Vocal Performance, Male. Bennett's next studio album, 1963's I Wanna Be Around, also made the Top Five, and its title track was another Top 20 hit, as was Bennett's next single, "The Good Life," also featured on the album. For the next three years, Bennett's albums consistently placed in the Top 100, along with a series of charting singles that included the Top 40 hits "Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me)" (from the Broadway musical +The Roar of the Greasepaint, the Smell of the Crowd) and "If I Ruled the World" (from the Broadway musical +Pickwick).
By the late '60s, Bennett's record sales had cooled off as major-record labels like Columbia turned their attention to the lucrative rock market. Just as Mitch Miller had encouraged Bennett to record novelty songs over his objections in the 1950s, Clive Davis, head of Columbia parent CBS Records, encouraged him to record contemporary pop/rock material. He acquiesced on albums such as Tony Sings the Great Hits of Today, but his sales did not improve. In 1972, he left Columbia for MGM Records, but by the mid-'70s he was without a label affiliation, and he decided to found his own record company, Improv, to record the way he wanted to. He made several albums for Improv, including a duet record with jazz pianist Bill Evans, but the label foundered in 1977.
By the late '70s, however, Bennett did not need hit records to sustain his career, and he worked regularly in concert halls around the world. By the mid-'80s, there was a growing appreciation of traditional pop music, as performers such as Linda Ronstadt recorded albums of standards. In 1986, Bennett re-signed to Columbia Records and released The Art of Excellence, his first chart album in 14 years. Now managed by his son Danny, Bennett shrewdly found ways to attract the attention of the MTV generation without changing his basic style of singing songs from the Great American Songbook while wearing a tuxedo. By the early '90s, he was as popular as he had ever been. The albums Perfectly Frank (1992, a tribute to Frank Sinatra) and Steppin' Out (1993, a tribute to Fred Astaire) went gold and won Bennett back-to-back Grammys for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance. But his comeback was sealed by 1994's MTV Unplugged, featuring guest stars Elvis Costello and k.d. lang, which went platinum and won the Grammy for Album of the Year. Bennett became a Grammy perennial, also taking home Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance awards for Here's to the Ladies (1995) and On Holiday: A Tribute to Billie Holiday (1997). In 2001, he released Playin' With My Friends: Bennett Sings the Blues, an album of duets. © William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide