I hated this when I heard it this morning. It brought a tear to my eye.
My wife and I have been together for 42 years and we were fortunate enough to see Tony Bennett three times in three different small venues in Oklahoma. Once in Tulsa at the Ballroom, once in OKC at the Civic Center, and once at Norman at Riverside Casino. Each concert left us with an idelible memory of the complete greatness of this ageless performer.
Tony Bennett never grew stale. His music crossed every boundary, every genre, and every demographic. Keep in mind, Tony Bennett remained relevant for over seven decades surviving the onslaught of rap and country music being transformed into pop.
Tony Bennett in my mind was even greater than Frank Sinatra. Plus, he seemed like such a gracious, friendly, and decent man.
He never grew stagnant and as young performers climbed the ladder, both male and female, hurried to do duo performances with TB.
He retired from live preformances several years ago when he revealed publicly Alzheimers was beginning to in his mind compromise the level of excellence he demanded of himself…. in his nineties, mind you.
He said Lady Gaga of all the contemorary artists was his favorite to collaborate with in live perfomances. Me, personally, I loved the stuff he did with Diana Krall and Michael Buble. But it doesn’t matter, Tony Bennett in own way would have been able to meld with Snoop Dog if asked to do it for the good of music he’d make it work.
Truly a man in love of his craft and never one to take the spotlight with his personal life like Sinatra. I know I hold the minority position on this view, but in my mind it was Tony Bennett, and then Frank Sinatra.
At my father’s memorial service, which in actually was more like a lawyer’s wake the way we created it… it was Tony Bennett singing ‘I’ll Be Seeing You’ as the ceremony ended.
And I think that’s the way I’ll end my piece on my love and admiration for the life of Tony Bennett.
Bravo. Well done, Tony Bennett.