Playin' With My Friends: Bennett Sings The Blues

Performer: Tony Bennett
Artist: Sheryl Crow; Ray Charles; Stevie Wonder; Bonnie Raitt; Diana Krall; K.D. Lang; B.B. King; Billy Joel
Engineer: Claudius Mittendorfer; James Duncan; Joel Moss; Steve Genewick; Tom Young; Charlie Paakkari
Producer: Phil Ramone
Distributor: Sony Music Distribution (

Notes: Personnel includes: Tony Bennett (vocals); B.B. King, Bonnie Raitt (vocals, guitar); Stevie Wonder (vocals, harmonica); Diana Krall, Sheryl Crow, Ray Charles, k.d. lang, Kay Starr, Billy Joel, Natalie Cole (vocals). The Ralph Sharon Quartet: Ralph Sharon (piano); Gray Sargent (guitar); Paul Langosch (bass); Clayton Cameron (drums). Recorded in Los Angeles, California and New York, New York. PLAYIN' WITH MY FRIENDS won the 2003 Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album. "New York State Of Mind" was nominated for the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals. This is a multi-channel Super Audio CD playable only on Super Audio CD players. Personnel includes: Tony Bennett (vocals); B.B. King, Bonnie Raitt (vocals, guitar); Stevie Wonder (vocals, harmonica); Diana Krall, Sheryl Crow, Ray Charles, k.d. lang, Kay Starr, Billy Joel, Natalie Cole (vocals). The Ralph Sharon Quartet: Ralph Sharon (piano); Gray Sargent (guitar); Paul Langosch (bass); Clayton Cameron (drums). Recorded in Los Angeles, California and New York, New York. PLAYIN' WITH MY FRIENDS won the 2003 Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album. "New York State Of Mind" was nominated for the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals. Personnel: Harry Allen (saxophone); Paul Langosch (bass guitar); Gray Sargent (guitar); Ralph Sharon (piano); Clayton Cameron (drums). Audio Mixers: Dae Bennett; Joel Moss ; Brian Dozoretz. Recording information: Capitol Studios, LA, CA; Hit Factory, New York, NY. Photographers: Mark Seliger; Christy Bush. 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 PLAYIN' WITH MY FRIENDS finds Tony Bennett mixing it up with a broad range of musical veterans and a sprinkling of young turks on this collection whose material primarily draws from the late '40s/early '50s era when the lines between jazz, blues, and pop were blurred. Backed by the stalwarts of the Ralph Sharon quartet, Bennett's easy-going style conjures up an earlier era's definition of cool. The Astoria native takes on the trappings of a saloon singer whether he's flirting with Diana Krall on "Alright, Okay, You Win," commiserating with Ray Charles on the heavy-hearted "Evenin'," or flying solo on Jimmy Rushing's "Undecided Blues". Other collaborators who fare well are Billy Joel (the consistently endearing "New York State Of Mind") and fellow vocal great Kay Starr (a simmering take on Basie's "Blue And Sentimental"). Even when Bennett cuts loose, it's in a cool and collected manner that goes down easy like sipping whiskey. Louis Jordan's "Let The Good Times Roll" comfortably bounces along as fellow septuagenarian B.B. King squeezes off bluesy guitar riffs, and even the normally raucous Robert Cray-penned title track politely chugs along as Bennett's duet guests take turns stepping up to the mike.

Rolling Stone (12/13/01, p.150) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...A classy, sweet-natured diversion..." Entertainment Weekly (11/16/01, p.173) - "...Bennett exhibits the good-natured exuberance and easy-as-pie swing that get him through any vocal occasion with high style..." - Rating: B+ Down Beat (2/02, p.55) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...An album of easy and relaxed duets..." JazzTimes (4/2002, p.79) - "...[He's] lost none of the raw energy and gut-level integrity that have defined his work....sings the blues with nine 'friends'..." Mojo (Publisher) (1/02, p.94) - "...Tony Bennett still has time to make his mark untrammelled by comparison...this...[album] suggest[s] he's ready to rend the restictive suitings of suave musical couture..."

One of the finest voices of 20th century American pop, Tony Bennett began his career in the '50s, under the watchful eye of producer Mitch Miller, recording huge hits such as "Boulevard of Broken Dreams," and "Because of You." In 1958, his album BASIE SWINGS-BENNETT SINGS was a precursor to later jazz-based work. That same year, "Firefly" was Bennett's last US Top 40 entry until 1962, when he made a major comeback with the Grammy-winning "I Left My Heart In San Francisco." In '93 and '94 he was awarded Grammys for his albums PERFECTLY FRANK and STEPPIN' OUT.

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