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Tony Bennett: Playin' with My Friends: Bennett Sings the Blues

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s

Artist: Tony Bennett
Title: Playin' with My Friends:
Bennett Sings the Blues
Released: 2001.11.06
Label: Columbia Records
Time: 57:27
Producer(s): Phil Ramone
Appears with:
Category: Jazz
Rating: *****...... (5/10)
Media type: CD
Purchase date:  2002.03.06
Price in €: 16,68
Web address: www.tonybennett.net

 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] Alright, Okay, You Win (M.Watts/S.Wyche) - 3:31
[2] Everyday [I Have the Blues] (P.Chatman) - 3:38
[3] Don't Cry Baby (S.Bernie/J.Johnson/S.Unger) - 2:43
[4] Good Morning, Heartache (E.Drake/D.Fisher/I.Higginbotham) - 4:56
[5] Let the Good Times Roll (F.Moore/S.Theard-Jordan) - 3:14
[6] Evenin' (M.Parish/H.White) - 4:14
[7] I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues (H.Arlen/T.Koehler) - 3:55
[8] Keep the Faith, Baby (L.DeJesus/L.Lerner/M.Watts) - 3:51
[9] Old Count Basie Is Gone [Old Piney Brown Is Gone] (J.Turner) - 3:24
[10] Blue and Sentimental (C.Basie/M.David/J.Livingston) - 3:20
[11] New York State of Mind (B.Joel) - 4:30
[12] Undecided Blues (J.Rushing) - 3:17
[13] Blues in the Night (H.Arlen/J.Mercer) - 3:33
[14] Stormy Weather (H.Arlen/T.Koehler) - 4:34
[15] Playin' With My Friends (R.Cray) - 4:47

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


TONY BENNETT - Vocals

The Friends:
DIANA KRALL - Vocals, Piano on [1],[15]
STEVIE WONDER - Vocals, Piano on [2],[15]
SHERYL CROWE - Vocals on [4],[15]
B.B. KING - Vocal, Guitar on [5],[15]
RAY CHARLES - Vocals, Piano on [6],[15]
BONNIE RAITT - Vocals, Guitar on [7],[15]
K.D. LANG - Vocals on [8],[15]
KAY STARR - Vocals on [10],[15]
BILLY JOEL - Vocals on [11],[15]

The Ralph Sharon Quartett:
RALPH SHARON - Yamaha Piano
CLAYTON CAMERON - Drums
PAUL LANGOSCH - Bass
GRAY SARGENT - Guitar

HARRY ALLEN - Saxophone on [3],[6],[7],[9],[10],[15]
MIKE MELVOIN - Hammond B3 Organ on [3],[6],[7],[9],[10],[15]
ROB MATHES - Vocal Arrangement

DANNY BENNETT - Executive Producer, Management
TOM YOUNG - Engineer, Design, Monitor Engineer
JOEL MOSS - Recording Engineer, Mixing
CLAUDIUS MITTENDORFER - Second Engineer, Mixing Assistant
STEVE GENEWICK - Second Engineer
JAMES DUNCAN - Second Engineer
CHARLES PAAKKARI - Second Engineer
TED JENSEN - Mastering
JILL DELL'ABATE - Production Manager
VANCE ANDERSON - Production Coordination
ARNOLD LEVINE - Art Direction
JOSH CHEUSE - Art Direction
MARK SELIGER - Cover & Inlay Photography
CHRISTY BUSH - Inlay Photography

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


2001 CD Sony 85833
2001 CS Sony 85833

Throughout my career, I have been fortunate to have made many records with some of the best musicians our time. But nothing im my career has topped the experience of recording this album. Every artist gave their very best and it was a pure joy to perform with each and every one of them. I whish to thank them all for making this most memoriable event of my 75 years - I was truly "Playin' With Myx Friends."

Tony Bennett



Tony Bennett's latter-day albums tend to have themes, and this one has two, as indicated by its double-barreled title: It is both a duets album and a blues album. The duet partners include ten singers who range from his recent touring partners Diana Krall and k.d. lang to fellow veterans Ray Charles, B.B. King, and Kay Starr, and younger, but still mature pop stars Stevie Wonder, Bonnie Raitt, and Billy Joel. All sound happy to be sharing a mic with Bennett. Not surprisingly, the singer's conception of the blues does not extend to the Mississippi Delta or the South Side of Chicago; rather, he is interested in the blues as filtered through the sound of the Swing Era, particularly from around Kansas City, and as interpreted by Tin Pan Alley and show tunes. For the former, his true mentor is Count Basie, whose overt influence is heard on six of the 15 tracks. Bennett makes no attempt to hide this, leading off the album with two songs, "Alright, Okay, You Win" (a duet with Krall) and "Everyday (I Have the Blues)" (a duet with Wonder), closely associated with Basie singer Joe Williams. The Broadway and Hollywood blues style is introduced in three selections written by Harold Arlen. On about half the tracks, the Ralph Sharon Quartet is augmented by Harry Allen's saxophone and Mike Melvoin's Hammond organ, but this remains a small, intimate affair that emphasizes the singers. There are missteps — Sheryl Crow's Billie Holiday impersonation on "Good Morning, Heartache" is unfortunate, and Natalie Cole, as usual, sounds out of her depth on "Stormy Weather." But the trade-offs Bennett enjoys with King and Charles are priceless, and the Joel duet is surprisingly effective. On the whole, this is yet another entry in Bennett's lengthening series of autumnal recorded triumphs.

William Ruhlmann, All-Music Guide, © 1992 - 2002 AEC One Stop Group, Inc.



Tony Bennett's commercial renaissance of the 1980s and '90s was aided by a string of albums that communicated his essential values while providing conceptual rings (Sinatra, Astaire, women singers) for record buyers to grasp. Playin' with My Friends links duets with an assortment of marquee artists to a set of blues and blues-influenced standards. While Bennett is no Joe Turner or Bobby Bland, his upbeat style melds well with that of most of his guests. He achieves the proper level of brio on "Let the Good Times Roll" with B.B. King and sits in spiritedly with Stevie Wonder ("Everyday [I Have the Blues]") and Ray Charles (a moaning "Evenin'" that's the standout cut). In fact, it's the visitors, not the host, who occasionally misfire: Sheryl Crow sounds unsure of her putative pain on "Good Morning, Heartache," while Natalie Cole is simply too glib to make for a convincing "Stormy Weather." Still, Bennett, his small band, and the best of these cameos make Playin' more than just another series of superstar walk-ons.

Rickey Wright, Amazon.com



Tony Bennett verdankt sein kommerzielles Comeback in den 80er- und 90er-Jahren zum Teil einer Reihe von Alben, die einerseits Bennetts Stärken zur Geltung brachten und andererseits jeweils ein Thema hatten, das Plattenkäufern als Orientierungshilfe diente, nämlich Material, das durch Sinatra, Astaire bzw. verschiedene Sängerinnen bekannt wurde. Auf Playin' With My Friends singt Bennett nun zusammen mit verschiedenen Popgrößen Duette - Bluesnummern und bluesnahe Standards.

Zwar ist er kein Joe Turner und auch kein Bobby Bland, aber sein lockerer Stil harmoniert gut mit dem der meisten Gäste. Bennett singt "Let the Good Times Roll" (mit B.B. King) so kernig, wie man es sich wünscht, und entfaltet sich vollkommen in den Duetten mit Stevie Wonder ("Everyday I Have the Blues") und Ray Charles (das sehnsuchtsvolle "Evenin'" ist der beste Titel auf dem Album).

Überhaupt sind es die Gäste, die manchmal eine weniger gute Figur machen, nicht der Gastgeber: Sheryl Crow wirkt auf "Good Morning, Heartache", als ob sie sich noch nicht sicher wäre, ob sie nun Herzeleid empfindet oder nicht, und Natalie Cole klingt einfach zu glatt, um mit "Stormy Weather" überzeugen zu können. Trotz allem machen Bennett, seine kleine Band und die am besten gelungenen Gastauftritte Playin' zu einer nicht alltäglichen Platte, für die sich die Superstars nicht sinnlos die Klinke in die Hand gegeben haben.

Rickey Wright, Amazon.de



Tony Bennett - the vocal pop icon who's claimed to be no more than a saloon singer - throws open the doors of his speakeasy and invites an A-list of vocal celebrities for a bluesy get-together. Backed by longtime accompanists pianist Ralph Sharon, guitarist Gray Sargent, bassist Paul Langosch, and drummer Clayton Cameron (with guests Mike Melvoin on organ and Harry Allen on tenor sax), Bennett turns his ebullient vocal exhortations to "Let the Good Times Roll" with B.B. King; "Stormy Weather" with Natalie Cole; "New York State of Mind" with Billy Joel; and "Keep the Faith, Baby" with k.d. lang. A chatty version of the Peggy Lee/Count Basie chestnut "Alright, Okay, You Win," begins this rather matey session, with Diana Krall adding her pleasantly woozy tone to a playful air of mutual flirtation. Rock singer Sheryl Crow joins Bennett on down-tempo weepie "Good Morning, Heartache," her seemingly uncertain delivery at least offset somewhat by her kittenish tone. Better accompanists for Bennett are Bonnie Raitt, who makes soulful work of "I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues," and '50s pop diva Kay Starr, whose rough, careworn tone on "Blue and Sentimental" is that of a true survivor. On "Everyday (I Have the Blues)," Stevie Wonder sings and squeezes out evocative harmonica licks, while "Evenin'" affirms that Ray Charles is still a formidable presence, and Bennett's fine foil in this melancholy barroom-blues scenario.

But not all tracks feature guests, as Bennett sings solo on the smooth groove of "Don't Cry Baby" (previously recorded by Basie), which lets the singer spotlight the improvisational skills of his able accompanists. And Bennett takes "Old Piney Brown Is Gone" by Big Joe Turner and changes it into "Old Count Basie Is Gone," an enjoyable tribute to the legendary bandleader -- whose swinging approach to the blues infuses much of this album.

Bennett closes things out with a version of the Robert Cray tune "Playing' with My Friends," featuring most of the album's contributors, including Cole, Crow, Joel, Raitt, Krall, King, Starr, and Wonder. On Playin' with My Friends, Bennett's saloon is obviously frequented by top-drawer clientele. What would once be colloquially called a "tony crowd," is, in this case, an entirely Tony crowd.

Drew Wheeler, November 13, 2001
CDNOW Senior Editor, Vocal/Instrumental
Copyright © 1994-2002 CDnow Online, Inc. All rights reserved.



Santana's "Supernatural" taught the music industry that an old-timer can reconnect with the masses by collaborating with everyone under the sun. Already an icon of cool, Tony Bennett doesn't need a bunch of kids on his records. But for his latest, the veteran crooner teams up with one timeless talent after another for a marathon of serial blues monogamy. Playin' With My Friends is as lighthearted as this sorrowful genre gets: Only his duet with Sheryl Crow on "Good Morning Heartache" truly delivers its lyrics' suffering. What's touching about this album is how far Bennett and guests bend to meet each other. Bonnie Raitt's slide guitar is more recognizable than her surprisingly traditional jazz vocal on "I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues," while Bennett gets as soft as a whisper on "Blue and Sentimental" to flatter 1950s songbird Kay Starr. He puts a wink in his inflection during "Keep the Faith, Baby" to match k.d. lang's revisionist humor, and Billy Joel overdoes the swingin' licks on his own "New York State of Mind" to suit the star. This is a classy, sweet-natured diversion from folks with the chops to make this kind of fluff as comfy as an easy chair.

BARRY WALTERS
RS 883/884 - December 6, 2001
© Copyright 2002 RollingStone.com
 

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