Tony Bennett - Five Classic Albums (2021)

AVID Jazz continues with its Five Classic album series with a re-mastered 2CD release by Tony Bennett complete with original artwork and liner notes.

'Cloud 7'; 'The Beat Of My Heart'; 'Hometown, My Town', 'Count Basie Swings, Tony Bennet Sings' and 'In Person'

Sadly it's not often we get to feature a musician who is still alive and performing and recording today and who actually fought in the second world war 'a front row seat in hell' as he would later describe it. Born in 1926, Anthony Benedetto, would later become Tony Bennett, courtesy of a name change instigated by Bob Hope while Bennett was touring with him following a performance by Bennett that Bob had witnessed with Pearl Bailey who 'discovered' him in 1949 and asked him to open for her in Greenwich Village. By age 10, Tony was already performing in public and he would go on to become somewhat of a pop star of his generation alongside another crooner of the era Frank Sinatra. We are focusing on the later years of the 1950s when Tony Bennett who had been signed as a pop singer to Columbia Records in 1950 by legendary producer and A&R man Mitch Miller, decided to make a musical adjustment towards a more jazz influenced style. In 1954, guitarist Chuck Wayne became his musical director which led to his first jazz album Cloud 7 being released in 1955 and pointed to the musical direction he would take for the next few years. By 1957 he had parted company with Mr. Wayne and pianist, composer and musical director Ralph Sharon had begun a very successful partnership with Tony Bennett. Sharon would encourage him even further in a jazzier direction and this would result in our featured albums Beat Of My Heart and the two collaborations with Count Basie Swings-Sings and In Person on which he would he would become the first male pop singer to sing with the Basie band. Taking a look at some of the fine musicians who appear on our albums will tell you what high regard Tony Bennett was held in the jazz community. Count Basie (of course), Kai Winding, Nat Adderley, Al Cohn, Jim Pisano, Bobby Jaspar, Art Blakey, Herbie Mann, Jo Jones, Al Cohn, Urbie Green, Freddie Green, Joe Newman, Candido, Milt Hinton, Thad Jones and Marshall Royal.