R.I.P. Tony Bennett (1926-2023)
I just heard that the great singer Tony Bennett has passed away, just a couple of weeks short of his 97th birthday. In 2021, Bennett revealed that he was living with Alzheimer’s, a condition that had been diagnosed in 2016, but he had continued to perform until that announcement. His death does not come as a shock, but it is always sad to hear of the death of a legend.
What can I say about about Tony Bennett, except that I absolutely adored his singing? In fact I think he got better with age, his older voice showing even greater artistry in phrasing and melodic invention than when he first emerged as a star performer in the 1950s. He was admired by people across the generations, across different musical genres, and by the harshest judges of all – other musicians.
By way of a tribute I thought I’d pick a tune from my favourite album of his, recorded back in 1975 with Bill Evans on piano. I think the intimate combination of his voice with only a piano accompaniment suited him very well indeed. I’ve picked this tune, Days of Wine and Roses, which Henry Mancini wrote for an excellent film of the same name.
I picked this track, partly because it is lovely, but also because its title reminds me of a little poem by Ernest Dowson entitled Vitae Summa Brevis Spem Nos Vetat Incohare Longam, which I translate from my half-remembered schoolboy Latin as something like “the brief span of Life forbids us from conceiving an enduring hope”. It’s a quotation from one of the Odes of Horace (Book I, Ode 4, line 15). These aren’t the lyrics of the song, but seem apt in the circumstances:
They are not long, the weeping and the laughter,
Love and desire and hate:
I think they have no portion in us after
We pass the gate.
They are not long, the days of wine and roses:
Out of a misty dream
Our path emerges for a while, then closes
Within a dream.
Rest in peace, Anthony Dominick Benedetto (1926-2023).
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In the Dark 
July 21, 2023 at 9:01 pm
I saw him at Glastonbury on the Sunday afternoon in 1998. One of the muddy years and he wore a white suit. I think he was a bit worried about how he would go down with a modern crowd, but they loved him – the thing about the Glastonbury crowd is that they appreciate any style of music so long as it’s good. He and his fabulous band (4-piece?) soon had the huge crowd in the palm of his hand. An unforgettable experience.
July 21, 2023 at 11:36 pm
July 22, 2023 at 9:58 am
I must have imagined the white suit!