“Bennett’s ability to straddle jazz and popular music was one he shared with few others. He managed to retain more of a jazz feel than either, and that’sN what Basie senses in him: a kindred spirit who is devoted to the not so very taxing business of s(w)inging the song with minimum distraction.”

Another gem from the creative Beegie Adair and her trio. This time, she is accompanied by Jeff Steinberg and his orchestra. A loving tribute to Tony Bennett and his illustrious career. As usual, Beegie includes one selection on the album where she plays solo piano and she picked 'I Left My Heart In San Francisco'. A beautiful rendition. This is a great album tinged with jazz overtones without losing the melodic memories of Tony's original sound. The orchestra is perfectly balanced and adds just the right touch while still allowing the familiar Beegie Adair Trio sound to shine through. If you are new to Beegie's music, this album will make you a convert to her impeccable sound and those like myself, have added it as another gem to her large catalog of great music.

Tony Bennett and Diana Krall's partnership didn't begin with the 2018 duets album Love Is Here to Stay. Krall popped up on two prior duets albums from Bennett and the pair toured at the dawn of the 2000s, but Love Is Here to Stay marks their first full record together, and it's an elegant affair. Conceived as a tribute to George Gershwin, the album is filled with familiar tunes, but hints of imagination lurk around the edges, such as the revival of "Fascinating Rhythm," the tune Bennett recorded for his first single in 1949. Nearly 70 years separate that version of "Fascinating Rhythm" from this 2018 rendition, and while Bennett certainly sounds older – his voice is slightly raspy, he can't hit the high notes the way he used to, nor does he sing with quite as much force – he still sounds spry and commanding, happily dancing through these cozy melodies, singing with as much rhythm as lyricism.

This collection features a sampling of four Tony Bennett Christmas albums – Snowfall: The Tony Bennett Christmas Album, Our Favorite Things, Christmas with Tony Bennett, and A Swingin’ Christmas – released between 1968 and 2008. Highlights include such traditional holiday standards as "Silver Bells," "Silent Night," and "Winter Wonderland," plus “Christmas in Herald Square” taken from the album The Playground. This is a nice addition to any Christmas collection.

CBS Special Products first assembled this ten-track budget compilation of Tony Bennett's Columbia Records recordings spanning 1951-1971 in 1982, and it has been reissued periodically since. The reason for this continuing availability is simple: The album is an excellent brief sampler of Bennett's work. It includes his first hit, "Because of You," his signature song, "I Left My Heart in San Francisco," four other Top Ten easy listening hits from the 1960s ("I Wanna Be Around," "For Once in My Life," "Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me)," and "The Shadow of Your Smile"), and four representative tracks from notable Bennett albums ("It Had to Be You" from 1957's Tony, "Just One of Those Things" from 1957's The Beat of My Heart"…

Recorded for his own Improv label, Tony Bennett's Life Is Beautiful appeared the same year as his impressive jazz collaboration with Bill Evans, and represents a return to full orchestration after the quiet majesty of The Tony Bennett Bill Evans Album. Anchored by the Torrie Zito Trio but also including frequent strings and brass, Bennett makes ten intriguing selections for his material; while the composers are hardly unfamiliar names (including Duke Ellington, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, Rodgers & Hart, Kurt Weill, and even Fred Astaire), many of Bennett's choices are fresh ones, reflecting his 25 years of investigation into the American songbook. Ellington's obscure "Reflections" is the best, given a sweetly remembered, world-weary, yet majestic performance by the incomparable Bennett…

Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett sang before 2014's Cheek to Cheek – she popped up on his 2011 collection Duets II – so this standards album isn't exactly out of the blue. Furthermore, the two aren't such an odd pair…

Bennett, whose recorded legacy has been gathered in a 76-disc boxed set titled The Compete Collection, has been doing that for over 60 years: saving our souls with the greatest songs ever written. The Complete box is an absolute necessity, first because it contains several previously unreleased albums, like On the Glory Road and From This Moment On, a live concert taped in Las Vegas that collectors have been salivating over since 1964.

The dean of American pop vocalists took a different and exciting fork in the road for his third Duets album, recruiting the best Latin vocalists in the world, and rejuvenating classic material like "The Best Is Yet to Come" (featuring Chayanne), "For Once in My Life" (featuring Marc Anthony), "Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me)" (featuring Gloria Estefan), "The Way You Look Tonight" (featuring Thalía), and "Return to Me" (featuring ranchera legend Vicente Fernández). Most of the charts are big band – one of the exceptions being the highlight, his duet with Fernández – but crossover fans will note that Bennett's English gives way to his duet partners' Spanish, an intriguing and successful choice.

The Roulette half of the two Bennett/Basie sessions is a band singer's paradise, with the Basie band caught at a robust and swinging peak and Bennett never sounding happier or looser in front of a microphone. The Count himself, alas, appears on piano only on two numbers ("Life Is a Song" and "Jeepers Creepers"), while Bennett's perennial pianist Ralph Sharon takes over on the remaining ten tracks and does all the charts. Yet Sharon writes idiomatically for the Count's style, whether on frantic rave-ups like "With Plenty of Money and You" and "Strike Up the Band" or relaxed swingers like "Chicago." Though not a jazz singer per se, the flavor of jazz is everywhere in Bennett's voice, which in those days soared like a trumpet…