Singer Tony Bennett is 92 and still going strong. And his “pair with a younger partner/s to reach the younger demographic” strategy has been paying dividends since 2006, when he released his Duets album, so why mess with a winning formula?
This full-length album, with an allGershwin programme, reunites him with crooner pianist Diana Krall, a mere stripling at 53, with whom he first teamed on 2001’s Playin’ With My Friends.
Add the elegant Bill Charlap Trio and you get a classy, cosy outing that tames Bennett’s belting tendencies and boosts Krall’s inviting croon to charming effect.
The singers have an easy, relaxed rapport that is captured by the spontaneous live-recording approach. This is immediately evident on the opening track S’Wonderful, which swings with a bouncy strut.
Bennett’s full-throated style may seem the opposite of Krall’s seductive whisper, but in this intimate ensemble setting, they discover a beguiling middle ground. Listen to the seductive call and response and push and pull of their alternating verses in My One And Only and I’ve Got A Crush On You.
Beyond the ballads, they can burn the floor too, as they demonstrate in a smartly uptempo take on Fascinatin’ Rhythm.
JAZZ
LOVE IS HERE TO STAY
Tony Bennett & Diana Krall, with The Bill Charlap Trio
Verve
Rating: 4/5
Each singer gets a solo track too – Bennett on the defiantly carefree finale Who Cares? and Krall on a wistfully melancholic But Not For Me.
But it is when their voices are tussling in free-form fashion that this album truly shines.
Ong Sor Fern
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