PopSyndicate.com

The world was a better place when crooners like Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin sang their way across America. Most of that musical generation has passed on, leaving Tony Bennett carrying the torch.

To celebrate his eightieth birthday (he was born on August 3, 1926), Bennett has recorded Duets, a nineteen track album of hit songs as recorded with some of music’s current legends like James Taylor, Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder.  The only song he performs by himself is his classic, “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.”

Most duet albums like this will see the title artist recording their parts and lyrics in one session and then the guests recording theirs in another, both while singing over recordings of the backing band. But for Duets, Bennett chose to record everything live: the band, himself and his guest. The move lends an instant credibility and originality to the work, even though the songs themselves are not original. It also shows once again that, as in his MTV Unplugged performance from 1994, Bennett has a respect for the generations that followed his own.

Recording live with the guest artists allows Bennett to put his signature improvisational style to good use, working off of and playing in-song with people like Elton John and the aforementioned James Taylor, who does the best at matching Bennett’s improv stylings. Most of the tracks are instantly recognizable crooner classics like “Smile” and “Put on a Happy Face,” but there are tracks like “Sing, You Sinners” (with John Legend) that you may not have heard before. While some of the duets are more memorable than others, as a whole they are a snapshot of the effect that Bennett and his compatriots created.

With age usually comes a decline in vocal strength (think Brian Wilson of recent years) but the good news is that Bennett’s voice is agile as ever, with his light touches put to good use on songs like “The Best is Yet to Come” and “Lullaby of Broadway.” Bennett easily outruns some of those he performs with and others, like Michael Buble and the Dixie Chicks are perfect accoutrement. What’s astonishing is the power he still holds, as witnessed in “For Once in My Life” with Stevie Wonder.

Bennett has had a career that most artists can only dream of, churned out hit after hit, and earned the respect of everyone far and wide. If Duets is Bennett’s last mark on the industry, then let it be a picturesque lesson to performers everywhere, no matter the genre: this is Music.

Genre: Pop/Jazz
Sounds like: Tony Bennett
Best Songs: “Put on a Happy Face”, “Lullaby of Broadway”, “Just in Time”

Ed. Note: The version of the album sold at Target has four additional tracks. Also, catch a live performance of Duets with the album’s atists on 11/21/06 on NBC.

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