Tony Bennett reflects on Lady Gaga, the Gershwins and 'Just Getting Started' at 91

Ed Masley | The Republic | azcentral.com

It's been 67 years since Tony Bennett topped the charts with his first million-selling hit, "Because of You."

By the time he won his first two Grammys 12 years later for "I Left My Heart in San Francisco," the star had refined his approach and found the voice that would sustain him as one of the most acclaimed song stylists ever.

No lesser an authority than Frank Sinatra told Life magazine in 1965: "For my money, Tony Bennett is the best singer in the business, the best exponent of a song. He excites me when I watch him — he moves me."

Released in 2015, his latest album finds the singer exploring the songs of Jerome Kern a year after topping the charts with "Cheek to Cheek," a well-received collection of duets with Lady Gaga on such standards as "Anything Goes" and "Nature Boy."

He was 88 when "Cheek to Cheek," which takes its name from a 1935 Irving Berlin tune, hit No. 1.

Who does that?

Tony Bennett does that.

Given his enduring impact as a masterful interpreter of the great American songbook, it makes sense that last year he became the first-ever recipient of the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song to win that honor based not on his having written songs but on the strength of what he brings to other people's songs.

We caught up with Bennett by email to talk about his life in music and the tour that brings him and his daughter, Antonia Bennett to Phoenix four days after he celebrates his 92nd birthday.

On winning the Gershwin Prize

Question: Congratulations on being chosen as last year’s recipient of the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song.

Answer: It was such a thrill to get the news that they had decided to present to me as a "song interpreter." The first record I ever made in 1949 was “Fascinating Rhythm” when I was just starting out and using the stage name Joe Bari, so to receive the Gershwin Prize at the age of 91 was an exceptional honor.

Q: You’ve obviously covered many Gershwin standards. Do you have a favorite?

A: That’s very tough to pick but like so many songwriters of that golden age, Fred Astaire was the premiere singer to introduce a song, so the Gershwins wrote “They Can’t Take That Away From Me,” for Astaire for the film “Shall We Dance?” It still is one of my all-time favorite Gershwin songs AND songs introduced by Fred Astaire.

Q: What do you think it was that made their writing special?

A: It was at the time and still today a purely American sound both in the lyrics and melody. It’s astonishing especially in light of George Gershwin’s untimely death at the age at the age of 38 from a brain tumor. He had written this extraordinary body of work in a little over 20 years.

On touring in his 90s: 'I feel great'

Q: How does it feel to still be out there touring and performing live at your age?

A: I feel great and my whole life, my premise was just to entertain people and make them feel good, so if for a few hours on stage I can make the audience forget about their worries and problems and enjoy the best songs that I can find to sing for them, then it keeps me going.

Q: I would imagine you enjoyed the many tributes from other artists on “Tony Bennett Celebrates 90: The Best Is Yet to Come?"

A: It has meant the world to me that so many artists wished me well. And the best birthday present of all was that my son, Dae, who produced the album, won a Grammy for it.

Duet partners, loving Lady Gaga

Q: You sang with Billy Joel at the birthday celebration and you obviously cut an album of duets with Lady Gaga in 2014. What makes a good duet partner?

A: I like a contrast when you sing a duet with someone. It’s what makes it most interesting. If the voices sound too much alike, then it becomes more of a chorus than a duet. We hand-picked everyone on the "Duets" projects so that it would be a good fit and I think each and every one of the tracks on those albums had their own style and feel to it, which was what we intended.

Of course, I just love Lady Gaga and we so enjoyed singing “Lady Is A Tramp” on “Duets II” that we decided to make a full album together and then tour as well. She just gets better and better and I think will have a fantastic movie career ahead of her as well.

What he looks for in a song

Q: You’ve sung so many classics by so many of the greatest writers in the history of song. What does Tony Bennett look for in a song?

A: Art is communication. So in order for me to perform a song it has to connect with me in a certain way so that I know that I can convey both the lyrics and the melody effectively to impact an audience.

Sometimes it’s the melody that catches me first and other times it’s the lyrics. But if I don’t feel that buzz inside when I hear a song, then I know it’s not for me.

The Tony Bennett family

Q: You’re touring with your daughter, Antonia, who’s opening the concert with a collection of jazz and pop standards. How does it feel to see her continue in the same tradition?

A: There is nothing better and when Antonia was a little girl and I was performing in LA she would often come on stage and sing a song as she loved performing for an audience so to see her develop into this wonderful jazz singer over the years during her touring with me is very special.

I love the fact that my family is involved with my career. My son Danny is my manager, my other son, Dae, produces my albums and my granddaughter Kelsey is a photographer, so many of the images you see of me are taken by her.

I got my first encouragement as a child from my Italian-American family when they would sit in a circle on Sunday afternoons and ask my brother, sister and I to perform for them. It was during those days that I discovered that I wanted to be an entertainer so to have my own family participating with me now is a blessing.

On 'Just Getting Started'

Q: Your latest book is called "Just Getting Started." Could you talk about the inspiration for that book and how you went about writing it?

A: I was fortunate enough to work on that book with a brilliant journalist Scott Simon from NPR so we set up a series of conversations over several months and he asked me about all the people who I admired and learned from through the years and then he would write each chapter and show it to me.

He did a terrific job as he not only captured what I wanted to convey about the person we focused on in each chapter, but he added historical context and biographical detail so that anyone who reads the book will learn a lot about the history of American entertainment.

Q: Does it feel like you’re just getting started?

A: Absolutely, as each day I just want to get better and better and hopefully learn something new as well.

Tony Bennett

When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 7.

Where: Celebrity Theatre, 440 N. 32nd St., Phoenix.

Admission: $91.65-$200.20.

Details: 602-267-1600, celebritytheatre.com.

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