The Complete Tony Bennett/Bill Evans Recordings
by Dan MacIntosh
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These collaborations between Tony Bennett and Bill Evans, which are taken from their The Tony Bennett/Bill Evans Album and Together Again albums, could have been disastrous. Tony Bennett is an extroverted showman, and Evans was an introverted musical genius. Making matters worse, relegating Evans to the role of mere accompanist would have been cruel. And while Bennett gets the most attention here, you never get the feeling he's somehow showboating and showing up Evans. Instead, one senses deep, mutual respect.
Although Evans is a colorful player, it's still amazing how good Bennett sounds with just one musician playing with him. There's no way to hide behind the band here. Instead, it takes a confident and persuasive vocalist to make these songs come alive. And come alive they do. Yet these are mostly ballads, with Bennett digging deeply into the lyrics while Evans adds just the right notes, at just the exact right moments.
These two pros seemed to be in the mood to wax philosophical, looking back wistfully on "The Days of Wine and Roses", and remembering freer days with "Young and Foolish". There's only one all-instrumental, David Raksin's "The Bad and the Beautiful", which kicks off Together Again. Disc two contains 20 alternate takes from these two albums, and CD one ends with two bonus tracks: "Who Can I turn to?" and "Dream Dancing".
Although stripped down, these recordings bring to mind Frank Sinatra's Capitol period. Sinatra many times chose songs during this era that found him looking deep inside himself. Similarly, much of the material filling these two CDs is like a man examining his reflection in the mirror. It's not depressing; just honest and clear.
When these consummate professionals perform the upbeat "Dream Dancing", it makes you wish there had been other punchier songs just like this one. These two men exhibit a whole lot of grace; but we would have also enjoyed a little more of their power, too.
Sure you can gripe a little bit about the slow tempos filling out this two CD set. But you cannot find fault with all its high quality musicianship.
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The Complete Tony Bennett/Bill Evans Recordings
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