Duets: An American Classic - Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett, one of America’s great voices surrounds himself with other singing superstars, mostly to good effect, in the new album “Duets: An American Classic,” an 80th birthday celebration.
It helps that Bennett recorded these duets in person, and that he’s worked with some of these folks, such as k.d. lang and Elvis Costello, before. A few of Bennett’s partners here, notably Celine Dion and Stevie Wonder, get a bit overemotive (though Wonder’s harmonica is a treat on “For Once in My Life”), but Tim McGraw (”Cold, Cold Heart”), James Taylor (”Put On a Happy Face”) and George Michael (”How Do You Keep the Music Playing?”) are surprising standouts amidst a heady corps that also includes Paul McCartney, Elton John, Bono, Sting, the Dixie Chicks and Barbra Streisand. Nevertheless, the album’s best moment is “I Left My Heart in San Francisco,” a Bennett solo performance accompanied only by piano. Billboard
