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Diana Krall: Love Is Here to Stay

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: Verve Jazz
Released: 2018.09.14
Time:
 36:38
Category: Jazz
Producer(s): Dae Bennett, Bill Charlap
Rating:
Media type: CD
Web address: www.dianakrall.com
Appears with:
Purchase date: 2020
Price in €: 1,00





 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] 'S Wonderful (G.Gershwin/I.Gershwin) - 2:52
[2] My One and Only (G.Gershwin/I.Gershwin) - 2:50
[3] But Not for Me" (Diana Krall solo)         3:07
[4] Nice Work If You Can Get It (G.Gershwin/I.Gershwin) - 2:45
[5] Love Is Here to Stay (G.Gershwin/I.Gershwin) - 4:28
[6] I Got Rhythm (G.Gershwin/I.Gershwin) - 2:00
[7] Somebody Loves Me (G.Gershwin/I.Gershwin/G.DeSylva/B.MacDonald) - 3:42
[8] Do It Again(G.Gershwin/I.Gershwin/G.DeSylva) - 2:55
[9] I've Got a Crush on You (G.Gershwin/I.Gershwin) - 4:00
[10] Fascinating Rhythm (G.Gershwin/I.Gershwin) - 2:43
[11] They Can't Take That Away from Me (G.Gershwin/I.Gershwin) - 3:25
[12] Who Cares? [Tony Bennett solo] (G.Gershwin/I.Gershwin) - 1:59

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


Tony Bennett - Vocals on [1,2,4-12]
Diana Krall - vocals on [1-11], Arrangement on [3]

The Bill Charlap Trio:
Bill Charlap - Piano, Arrangement, Producer
Peter Washington - Bass on [1,2,4-12]
Kenny Washington - Drums on [1,2,4-12]

Dae Bennett - Producer, Mixing
Nate Odden - Engineering Assistance
Billy Cumella - Engineering Assistance
Greg Calbi - Mastering
Josh Cheuse - Creative Direction
Mark Seliger - Photography
Coco Shinomiya - Design
Mandy Dallacorte - Marketing
Rafaela Hernández - Production Manager
Eric Neuser - Production Manager
Julie Johantgen - Release Coordinator
Evelyn Morgan - A&R
Femi Onafowokan - A&R
Natalie Weber - Package Coordinator

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


2018 CD & DVD Universal - 1294574
2018 CD Universal - 1294611
2018 CD Verve - 6778129
2018 LP Verve - 6778127

Recorded at the Studio Avatar and Electric Lady, New York City.



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. Krall responds in kind, trading staccato phrases that are slyly complementary to Bennett's own. In the Bill Charlap Trio, the pair have empathetic support, keeping the proceedings both light and lush, helping to turn this album into a charming testament to endurance -- endurance of the Gershwin catalog, the collaboration between Krall and Bennett, and, especially, how Tony Bennett can still sound completely committed to songs he's spent decades singing.

Stephen Thomas Erlewine - All Music Guide



Two weeks ahead of the 120th anniversary of George Gershwin’s birthday, Tony Bennett and Diana Krall come together for their first full album project to honor the music of the Gershwins with Love Is Here to Stay. Tony Bennett, incredibly, is still singing at the young age of 92.  He and Krall have been friends for over 20 years, have toured together and recorded duets for two of Bennett’s albums but not a full-length album until now.  Obviously, stature doesn’t get much bigger as both are multiple Grammy winners, platinum album sellers and consistently top charting artists.

Krall is just singing here, not playing piano. The Grammy award-winning Bill Charlap Trio deliver the clean, crisp support for the two vocalists who deliver a master class in phrasing and effortless command of the material. Bill Charlap is the pianist, with Peter Washington on bass and Kenny Washington on drums. These are all duet tracks, among them: “Love Is Here to Stay,” “S’Wonderful,” “They Can’t Take That Away from Me,” “But Not for Me,” “Fascinating Rhythm,” “My One and Only” and “I’ve Got a Crush on You.” The latter two were never recorded by either artist and “Fascinating Rhythm” was Tony Bennett’s first physical recording, under his then stage name, Joe Bari.

Given the familiarity of these tunes, many of which are in The Great American Songbook, we’ll offer anecdotal information on them. “S’Wonderful” is associated with Fred Astaire from the 1927 musical Funny Face. Krall has sung it on both her Look of Love and Live in Paris albums and Bennett once, dating back to 1977 – Tony Bennett with the McPartlands and Friends Make Magnificent Music. “My One and Only” also stems from Funny Face and is considered by many to be one of the greatest of the brothers’ songs. “But Not for Me,” dates to the 1930 musical Girl Crazy and has become the archetypical example of a ‘torch song,’ and went on to become a jazz standard associated with Ella Fitzgerald and Chet Baker.

“Nice Work If You Can Get It,” has of course, long been a colloquial expression. The Gershwins wrote it for Fred Astaire to sing in the 1937 musical A Damsel in Distress. Bennett recorded it on his 1994 tribute to Astaire, Steppin’ Out. “Love Is Here to Stay” is associated with Frank Sinatra who sang it on his 1956 Songs for Swingin’ Lovers. It’s generally thought that it was the last song that George Gershwin finished in his lifetime. It appears on three of Bennett’s albums. “I Got Rhythm,” another of the most famous Gershwin tunes, was originally written for Ethel Merman to sing in Girl Crazy but like many of the Gershwin songs, was quickly adopted by jazz musicians from Sidney Bechet and Louis Armstrong up to the beboppers Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie.  Bennett recorded it on 2005’s Here’s to the Ladies.

” Somebody Loves Me” was one of the last Gershwin songs written before George and Ira became a partnership. Lyrics are from Ballard MacDonald and Buddy DeSylva. Neither Bennett or Krall recorded it prior to this session. “Do It Again” is another Gershwin tune with lyrics from DeSylva and, as such, is usually left off Gershwin songbook albums. Krall recorded it on 1999’s When I Look In Your Eyes. “I’ve Got a Crush on You” was originally written as an up-temp foxtrot but has transformed over the years to be a sentimental ballad, as it’s interpreted here.  “Fascinating Rhythm” was written for Fred And Adele Astaire, first appearing in the 1924 musical Lady, Be Good.  In addition to it being Bennett’s first recording, he also sang it on his 1959 album with Count Basie and for his 1963 Carnegie Hall concert album.  “They Can’t Take That Away from Me” is another written for Fred Astaire who sang it to Ginger Rogers in the 1937 musical Shall We Dance? This might be Bennett’s most often recorded song, appearing on at least four of his albums. Krall sang it on her 1997 Love Scenes. “Who Cares” comes from one of Gershwin’s most successful shows, the Pulitzer Prize-winning political satire Of Thee I Sing from 1931. Astaire didn’t sing it in a show but with the Benny Goodman Orchestra in 1940. Bennett included it on his Astaire tribute, Steppin’ Out.

Again, never have these classic songs sounded better than with these two icons of popular music. Thankfully, they included some unexpected Gershwin tunes here. Even though they won’t be touring, you can expect to see Bennett and Krall perform on national television – The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Good Morning America and Live with Kelly and Ryan. Love Is Here to Stay will be released on CD, Vinyl, digital and streaming platforms.

Jim Hynes - September 14, 2018
Copyright © 2020 Glide Publishing




At 92, Tony Bennett is the last of the golden age of jazz vocalists. His career stretches so far back it predates the album format, something he subsequently went on to master over the course of some nearly 60 studio albums ranging from big band arrangements to the landmark 1970s recordings he made with pianist Bill Evans. That he still remains an active performer showing no signs of slowing down is a testament to not only his unrelenting work ethic, but also his virtually peerless skill as a singer and interpreter of songs. His approach is so effortless as to feel almost more conversational than musical, making for an instantly intimate listening experience, regardless of the setting.

Vocalist and pianist Diana Krall released her first album 25 years ago, making her part of the second or third generation to follow Bennett and company. Yet her approach has always been one of a throwback nature in her respectfully understated interpretation of the Great American Songbook and jazz standards alike. So natural a fit, the pair toured together briefly in 2000 on a 20-city run. The ensuing years saw them teaming up again from time to time, always classy, always well-matched. In essence, theirs is a partnership that has existed off and on for the past several decades, finally coming to fruition in the form of a full-length release in Love Is Here to Stay.

Designed as a tribute to the brothers Gershwin, Love Is Here to Stay finds the pair hitting the expected high points of the Gershwin songbook, treating each with a delicately reverential respect that rarely strays from the original melody. Opening with “’S Wonderful,” they, with the help of the Bill Charlap trio, immediately draw the listener into a candle-lit cabaret atmosphere in which they share an easy rapport. Both are understated stylists who know their way around a song inside and out, making for a more logical pairing than, say, Bennett’s 2014 outing with Lady Gaga (no vocal slouch herself, of course).

But the problem with the Bennett/Krall pairing lies in this laidback musical understatement. Rather than harmonizing on phrases, they sing unison lines that cause their vocals become muddled and lost within each other. They are at their best when trading verses and engaging in a sort of melodic call-and-response, an approach that, to be fair, makes up the majority of the album. Yet it’s these times when they forgo harmonizing in favor of unison vocals that things threaten to fall off the rails, particularly on “I’ve Got a Crush on You” as they attempt a unison rubato that feels shaky at best.

On the title track, Krall’s vocals are pitched so that she more often than not sounds like Julie London at her most reserved, and thus a sharp contrast to Bennett’s more exuberant, rollercoaster read. It’s an often sleepy contrast that doesn’t always mesh quite as well as it could, yet it never feels forced on the part of either artist. Unlike his recording with Gaga, Krall offers Bennett a series of performances in which they sound like musical and lyrical peers, operating within a style that they both feel infinitely comfortable.

A clear highlight is their imaginative reworking of “I Got Rhythm” in which the melody races around a gently fluttering snare pattern that plays with the beat, teasing something more rhythmically deliberate and driving than what is actually present on the recording. It’s a playful read that allows the Charlap trio to show off their respective chops as the singers gamely stand back after a single read of the verse and chorus. Similarly, their take on “Fascinating Rhythm” is a thrill. It’s a fitting choice, too, as it was Bennett’s debut single in 1949. And while nearly 70 years separate the recordings, Bennett has lost none of his showmanship and mastery of a good song.

There is nothing on Love Is Here to Stay that will rewrite the legacy of either artist – they’ve both been better before and Bennett’s range isn’t quite what it once was (but whose is after some 70 years in the business?) But it’s nonetheless an enjoyable pairing of two of the classiest jazz vocalists still working and, more importantly, still clearly enjoying themselves in the process. We should all hope to be so active should we find ourselves becoming nonagenarians.

© Copyright 2020, Spectrum Culture



With a shared love of two of the 20th Century’s greatest songwriters — George and Ira Gershwin — two of jazz’s all time great vocalists, Tony Bennett and Diana Krall, get together and, backed by the Grammy Award-winning Bill Charlap Trio, present an understated master class in vocal delivery and phrasing.

Of the 12 “classic” jazz songs on the album, standouts include “S’Wonderful”, “Nice Work If You Can Get It”, “Love Is Here to Stay”, “I’ve Got A Crush On You”, and “They Can’t Take That Away From Me.” All of the songs sound as good as you’d expect from these two pros, and give one the feeling that they are performed in an intimate, small club-like atmosphere, not a cavernous recording studio. To be appreciated fully, the album would best be listened to late at night, by oneself, preferably with a Scotch on the rocks.

One can only marvel at the quality of Bennett’s voice at the age of 92, and the fact that he sounds as good now as he did in 1962 with his breakthrough hit “I Left My Heart In San Francisco,” and Krall is at her best on all the tracks including her one solo track “But Not For Me.” All of the 12 songs except two are duets, with Bennett’s solo vocal turn on the final cut “Who Cares?”

Also, of interest is the scat-like “Fascinating Rhythm,” which was Bennett’s first recording under his stage name of Joe Bari in 1949, but the track is now given new life with the vocal addition of Krall.

Gerry Young
Copyright © 2020 The Spill Magazine



Part of the reason that Tony Bennett, 92, has remained artistically vital over the decades is his willingness to work with unexpected vocal partners, as evidenced by A Wonderful World (his 2002 collaboration with K.D. Lang), Cheek To Cheek (his 2014 release with Lady Gaga) and his series of Duets albums (which included contributions from Paul McCartney, Aretha Franklin, Amy Winehouse and Marc Anthony). On Bennett’s new album—devoted to the compositions of George and Ira Gershwin—his vocal partner is of the more expected variety, given her long history of interpreting the Great American Songbook: Diana Krall. Bennett and Krall have, in fact, recorded duets before, on his albums Playin’ With My Friends: Bennett Sings The Blues (2001) and Duets: An American Classic (2006). But Love Is Here To Stay marks their first album-length collaboration. One unusual twist here is that Krall doesn’t play piano on the session, instead focusing on vocal duets with the master, while the instrumentation is provided by pianist Bill Charlap’s impeccable trio. The result is a gem that showcases not only the longevity of the material, but of Bennett himself, who found fame after serving in the Army during World War II.

Bennett and Krall offer 10 delightful duets—including “I Got Rhythm,” “Do It Again” and “Nice Work If You Can Get It”—and each vocalist delivers one solo rendition; his is “Who Cares?” and hers is “But Not For Me.” Just as salt and pepper can work together in a recipe, Bennett’s authoritative vocals and Krall’s more delicate delivery complement each other, and several tunes conclude with a delicious bit of unison singing. On the album opener, “’S Wonderful,” there’s a brief segment in which Krall very quietly scats beneath Bennett’s lead vocal. That moment, along with Bennett’s chuckle at the end of “I’ve Got A Crush On You,” illustrates the singers’ chemistry and camaraderie. On “Somebody Loves Me,” there’s a slight reversal of typical roles, as Krall is more exuberant and Bennett is more subdued. These vocalists’ performances are a master class in the art of listening, reacting and then listening even more closely before responding. A swinging version of “My One And Only” features Charlap’s fluid pianism, drummer Kenny Washington’s compelling brushwork and a sturdy bass line from Peter Washington. It also features the type of clever lyrics that made Ira Gershwin such an important partner to George: “I tell you, I’m not asking any miracle/ It can be done, it can be done/ I know a clergyman who will grow lyrical/ And make us one, and make us one.”

Hardcore Gershwin fans might want to seek out the Target Exclusive version of this album, which contains two additional solo tracks: Bennett’s reading of “Oh, Lady Be Good!” and Krall’s rendition of “How Long Has This Been Going On?”

Bobby Reed - September 2018
Copyright © 2020 DownBeat



1. THE SINGER

This story begins in 1948. A young man just a few years out of Army duty in the European theater of WWII went into Decca’s New York recording studio and cut a version of George and Ira Gershwin’s “Fascinating Rhythm.” Born with a name seemingly both too long and too ethnic for show business, the young singer had been using the shorter moniker Joe Bari for his professional appearances. According to Dick Golden—jazz radio host, historian, and author, as well as friend of the singer—it was Bob Hope who invited Bari to perform with him at the Paramount. The story goes that Hope asked the young man, “Again, what’s your name?” and he replied, “My professional name is Joe Bari but my real name is Anthony Dominick Benedetto.” Hope said, “Oh my, that’s too long for the marquee … why don’t we call you Tony Bennett?”

A colleague of mine in the publishing world has a saying for people who feel the need to embellish an anecdote or exaggerate their own importance. She says, “Hey, it’s your story, make it great.” In the case of Tony Bennett, his story truly is great. And he made it great not with exaggeration, but rather with talent, perseverance, and perhaps a little luck along the way.

Seventy years later, the iconic singer may seem to be in the final chapter of that story. However, 92-year-old singers aren’t supposed to be able to belt out songs for 90 minutes without a break or a teleprompter or even a stool. Watching Bennett perform in front of a sold-out crowd this past summer at Wolf Trap in Vienna, Va., you couldn’t help but be impressed not only by his unique stage presence but also by his vocal chops and, yes, range. He was performing for an adoring audience of all ages and he embraced it, often using the “you” in his songs to mean his listeners, rather than some lover.

With the release of Love Is Here to Stay, an exquisite duet album with Diana Krall, Bennett has further cemented his legacy as one of the greatest singers in American music. Dedicated to the songs of the Gershwins, the album brings Bennett full-circle to that first 1948 Decca session—yes, “Fascinating Rhythm” is on the track list—backed by one of the great jazz piano trios of the last two decades, the Bill Charlap Trio with Peter Washington and Kenny Washington. The music has a timeless quality that holds up to the gold standard of duet recordings: the 1956 Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong sessions that produced the beloved Ella and Louis. No surprise that that album also had a stellar backing band, the Oscar Peterson Quartet.

2. THE PARTNER

Diana Krall’s story isn’t nearly as long as Bennett’s, but it’s pretty great too. Initially more of a pianist than a singer, she made her first recording when she was just 16 at Little John Studio on a small island in British Columbia. But it would be another dozen or so years before she recorded her debut album for the Montreal-based label Justin Time in 1993. Shortly thereafter, she was signed to GRP and produced by Tommy LiPuma, who helped craft Krall’s lush sound on record and who was instrumental in her winning numerous Grammy Awards. She is now one of the most popular vocalists of her time, topping sales charts with every release and selling out large venues all over the world, one of a handful of jazz artists who can tour like a pop star, doing dozens of dates over a 30- to 40-day period. Yet as a dedicated mother to twin boys and wife of singer/songwriter Elvis Costello, she works hard to balance her professional life with her personal one.

Because Krall has been so successful for so long, you can easily forget that she wasn’t an overnight success and that she apprenticed with several jazz veterans in the ’80s and early ’90s whose advice still resonates with her today: Monty Alexander, John Clayton, Jeff Hamilton, Oscar Peterson, Jimmy Rowles, Ray Brown. The influence of Rosemary Clooney, in particular, loomed large for Krall with the recording of Love Is Here to Stay. “I feel Rosemary around me sort of helping me,” she explains. “She was a huge influence on me and she’s someone I don’t talk about enough. I thought about her every day when I was doing this record. Every day.”

Krall was one of the many artists who recorded with Bennett on his 2006 Duets album—she sang “The Best Is Yet to Come” with him—and she’s long admired his musicianship and vocal gifts, going all the way back to his recordings with Bill Evans. The rapport they have musically and personally is much like that of a niece with a beloved uncle. She speaks of Bennett in nearly rhapsodic terms. “I think Tony sounds so amazing on this record that it’s mind-blowing,” she says. “I just think he sounds as good as he’s ever sounded, and I can’t believe that I got to do more than one song. A whole record is quite a significant work, you know?”

In turn, Bennett says about Krall, “She’s a natural.” Indeed, her vocal style has a relaxed, almost languorous quality that enhances the blend of their two voices. Krall says that she was very conscious of how to phrase—or not to phrase—when singing with Bennett. “I don’t have the ability technically to stretch out notes,” she explains. “So what I did is, I physically took a step back and, in my mind, let Tony be himself. There are some endings where I just decided he should have those endings—I don’t have to sing every ending with him. Why [should I]? He’s got it. And it doesn’t have to be [a situation where] he sings one line, I sing one line, and then we finish the ending together.”

If you view the videos from the Love Is Here to Stay recording sessions that have been circulating online, you can see for yourself how Krall is watching Bennett and reveling in his gifts, something she readily confirms. “There were times when I dropped out because I was just so mesmerized by what he was doing that I didn’t feel I needed to come in,” she says. “But I think it was relaxed. I consciously took a big breath in and went, ‘You just sing the way you sing—just relax. And if you don’t have anything more to say, don’t say it!’ He is who he is and nobody can step into his dream. Nobody can touch him. He’s Tony Bennett.”

3. THE FAMILY

If you hang around with Bennett for any length of time, you soon see that his professional life is a family affair. He travels with his wife Susan and their dog Happy. One son, Danny, is his personal manager; his other son, Dae, has been recording his music for many years. His daughter, the singer Antonia, often opens his shows with a short set of jazz and cabaret standards. Everyone else in his sphere feels like family, too—from his current working band of Lee Musiker, Gray Sargent, Marshall Wood, and Harold Jones to his longtime publicist Sylvia Weiner.

Both Bennett sons played major roles on Love Is Here to Stay: Danny as executive producer and Dae as engineer and co-producer (with Bill Charlap). The latter Bennett has had a long career running a studio, recording artists from nearly every genre. But it was only after hearing from Grover Washington, Jr. in the early 2000s about how great an engineer he was that his father asked him to join “Team Bennett.”

If the album sounds like five people playing together, that’s because it is—no overdubs. “With a record like this, the way my father records is all live, with everybody in the room,” Dae Bennett explains. “There are actually vocal monitors in the room, so nobody’s wearing headphones.” He records multiple takes and then edits them together for the final version, using a system that’s part analog, part digital. “As the songs are going down, I have a notebook with all the lyrics written out, and then I have a grid next to that that I write the take numbers on,” he says. “Then I just have my own little shorthand that I take as things are going down. It saves me a lot of time when I get to the editing process. But, essentially, to compile a good vocal track, I have to cut the whole band”—in other words, any edits he makes to the vocals are also, unavoidably, edits to the instrumental tracks underneath them. “So it can get interesting.”

One of the most interesting parts about this album in particular was dealing with the basic challenge of the male/female duet: differences in vocal range. Dae credits his co-producer Charlap with solving that problem. “Believe me, it’s the hardest thing to do, because of the keys—finding a place that’s comfortable for everybody,” he says. “The way Bill arranged things, the modulations are very subtle. I hate hearing stuff modulate back and forth. It’s kind of like tambourine: Once you bring it in[to a track], how do you get it out, to stop it without sounding like the track is dropping? It’s a similar thing with modulations—you just can’t go there sometimes. But he does such a fantastic job, you don’t even think about it. Even when I was mixing and editing it, it just feels natural.”

4. THE SUPPORT TEAM

Bennett and Krall both acknowledge that Love Is Here to Stay succeeds artistically in large part because of the contributions of Charlap and the two Washingtons. Besides providing sensitive backing for the two singers, Charlap helped with song choices, arrangements, and production. As Krall puts it, “You have a musical director who has worked with Sandy Stewart, who happens to be his mom, for years and who understands singers, who understands tune arrangements, who understands the history, who understands Gershwin, who understands when to not be too into what Gershwin intended, to make sure that what we’re doing is natural and not get too focused on that.”

A pianist herself, Krall was able to concentrate on singing for these sessions and to appreciate the talents of a trio that Dae Bennett compares to a flock of birds flying in V-formation, shifting in and out of the lead seamlessly. “It was pretty mind-blowing to be in that kind of intimate setting with Bill, Peter, and Kenny, and just us singing,” she explains. “You sit back and listen. That’s what I think is most important—you listen to everybody around you, and not focus so much on yourself. I would say that I’m more aware of space these days than I ever have been before. Not trying to fill every space, just sort of let[ting] it happen.”

For his part, Charlap throws credit back at the two vocalists. “Diana is a singer and she’s also a jazz musician,” he notes. “She understands what it is to sit in a rhythm section, to play a solo, to play from behind the piano, and to play in front of the piano. This music is of course at the essence of our repertoire. Gershwin is right at the center, and it’s perfect for Diana in that sense. With Tony, well, Tony Bennett has over 70 years of experience phrasing this music. And not only that, he is the history of this music, in the sense that this was all being created around him. The fact that he has lived as long as he has and been as vital for as long as he has puts him in a very unique place in terms of the deepest authenticity of phrasing.”

It doesn’t hurt that Bennett, Krall, and the trio are playing the music of one of the greatest composers of the 20th century. “It’s absolutely natural musically for both of them, and natural in terms of creating a conversation,” Charlap says. “A conversation for the entire group—after all, there are five musicians on this album, and they [i.e., Bennett and Krall] are connected with the rhythm section as I am connected with Kenny Washington and Peter Washington. We’re all connected with each other in the way that we’re rhythmically phrasing and listening to each other all the time.”

Charlap says it wasn’t a particularly difficult adjustment for the trio to support two singers. “It’s simply a matter of listening, and experience,” he explains. “We’re all very long on experience, and both Kenny and Peter listen to the rhythm section and the lyrics, the aesthetic of song. They also have the entire history of the most important singers and jazz musicians at their fingertips [and] in their psyche.” That intimate knowledge is readily apparent on cuts such as “I’ve Got a Crush on You,” “They Can’t Take That Away From Me,” “S’Wonderful,” and the title tune. It’s nearly impossible to imagine the album not being nominated for a Grammy.

5. THE SONGS

The connection between Bennett and the Gershwins’ music goes far beyond the bookends of his first and most recent recordings. He’s had a long affinity for the composer and has always included Gershwin compositions in his book. In 2017 he received the prestigious Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, which “celebrates the work of an artist whose career reflects lifetime achievement in promoting song as a vehicle of musical expression and cultural understanding,” according to the Library’s website. So it was fitting that the day before Bennett’s performance at Wolf Trap, Raymond White—who curates the Gershwin collection at the Library of Congress—gave the singer a private and personalized look at various documents (lead sheets, correspondence, playbills, etc.), as well as an exhibit featuring George Gershwin’s piano, writing desk, and artwork. Interestingly, Gershwin shared a love of drawing with Bennett, and his personal notes would frequently be illustrated with clever caricatures. Walking quietly and respectfully through two rooms filled with all things Gershwin, Bennett seemed to be soaking in the legacy of the great composer and his lyricist brother.

Asked why he chose George Gershwin’s music for the album’s theme, Bennett says that Gershwin represented a uniquely American story. Charlap elaborates on that aspect: “Gershwin is at the very center of American popular music, and also of jazz. Gershwin said that jazz is the sound of the American soul, and Gershwin understood that the sound of our music is the sound of jazz and that his songs and his writing always reflected the sound of swing and the blues and the other things that are all about American characteristics. In fact, anything that he wrote was bridging the European aesthetic with the true American aesthetic—actually the other way around, American first. If you think about his classical works, starting with Rhapsody in Blue, of course, which is already not Rhapsody in B-flat, it’s …in Blue—think about Porgy and Bess. The very first aria in Porgy is ‘Summertime,’ which is in essence, at least in terms of its form, a minor blues. So all of that is at the essence of Gershwin’s music.”

Krall is quick to dismiss the idea that the new album represents some sort of nostalgia, citing the timely quality of Ira Gershwin’s lyrics. “You’ve got Tony Bennett singing those lyrics and they sound like they were written last week,” she says. “If you hear Tony singing, ‘The more I read the papers/The less I comprehend/The world and all its capers/And how it all will end,’ that really matters to him. That verse is very significant for him to sing, right now. He’s able to take something like that and find the story that people relate to right now without being nostalgic or sentimental. He’s like Sonny Rollins, where he lived the creative part of this, he introduced most of these songs that he’s singing and saw something in the rhythm, but he still knows the meaning of them, like a great actor would be interpreting anything else … [I]t’s not all about nostalgia.”

The intimacy and magic of the Love Is Here to Stay sessions were immediately apparent to Krall when she revisited the recording months later. “When I put the needle on the record and all of a sudden ‘S’Wonderful’ came on”–she sings the first few notes—“I went, ‘Oh, wow. Okay. This is us,’” she says. “I’m thankful that we did it like that.”

There are no definite plans for the two singers to tour together; as of now, the album is all of this collaboration that we, and they, have to enjoy. “Let’s see what’s going to happen [next],” Krall says. “As Tony would say: ‘What’s next?’ Just be thankful that we get to do what we get to do. That’s what John [Clayton] and Monty [Alexander] would say to me: ‘We get to do this, Diana. We get to do it.’”

Lee Mergner - April 25, 2019
JazzTimes — “America’s Jazz Magazine”



Love Is Here to Stay is a collaborative studio album by American singer Tony Bennett and Canadian singer Diana Krall. It was released on September 14, 2018, by Verve Records and Columbia Records. The album features the New York-based jazz group the Bill Charlap Trio. An exclusive CD edition containing two bonus tracks was released at Target, while a red-colored opaque vinyl of the album was made available exclusively through Barnes & Noble.

All songs in the album are from the Great American Songbook and were composed by George Gershwin, with lyrics by Ira Gershwin. Bennett first recorded "Fascinating Rhythm" in 1949. By recording the song again for Love Is Here to Stay, he received the Guinness World Records title for "longest time between the release of an original recording and a re-recording of the same single by the same artist." The time span is 68 years and 342 days, according to the Guinness adjudicator who presided over the record-setting. Bennett and Krall have been friends for more than two decades. Krall previously participated in recording two Bennett's albums, Duets: An American Classic (2006) and Playin' with My Friends: Bennett Sings the Blues (2001). This record is their first full-length project together.

Chris Pearson of The Times gave the album four stars out of five, commenting, "Tony Bennett's admirers are by now resigned to him making duet albums, even if he works best solo. This example is more palatable than most since it pairs him with Diana Krall, among the few younger singers to share his deep appreciation of the Great American Songbook. Moreover they are backed by the trio of the pianist Bill Charlap..." John Paul of Spectrum Culture mentioned, "There is nothing on Love Is Here to Stay that will rewrite the legacy of either artist—they've both been better before and Bennett's range isn't quite what it once was (but whose is after some 70 years in the business?) But it's nonetheless an enjoyable pairing of two of the classiest jazz vocalists still working and, more importantly, still clearly enjoying themselves in the process. We should all hope to be so active should we find ourselves becoming nonagenarians".

Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic stated, "In the Bill Charlap Trio, the pair have empathetic support, keeping the proceedings both light and lush, helping to turn this album into a charming testament to endurance—endurance of the Gershwin catalog, the collaboration between Krall and Bennett, and, especially, how Tony Bennett can still sound completely committed to songs he's spent decades singing". Bobby Reed of DownBeat wrote, "Bennett and Krall offer 10 delightful duets [...] and each vocalist delivers one solo rendition; his is 'Who Cares?' and hers is 'But Not For Me.' Just as salt and pepper can work together in a recipe, Bennett's authoritative vocals and Krall's more delicate delivery complement each other, and several tunes conclude with a delicious bit of unison singing". Lee Mergner of JazzTimes commented, "With the release of Love Is Here to Stay, an exquisite duet album with Diana Krall, Bennett has further cemented his legacy as one of the greatest singers in American music."

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