Sings The Rodgers & Hart Songbook

Performer: Tony Bennett
Artist: Ruby Braff; George Barnes
Engineer: Frank Laico; Frank Laico
Producer: Nick Phillips; Patrick Milligan (Compilation)
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: 2 LPs on 1 CD: TONY BENNET SINGS 10 RODGERS & HART SONGS (1976)/TONY BENNET SINGS MORE GREAT RODGERS & HART (1977). Personnel: Tony Bennett (vocals); Ruby Braff (cornet); George Barnes, Wayne Wright (guitar); John Giuffrida (bass). Recorded from September 28-30, 1973. Includes liner notes by Will Friedwald and Ruby Braff. Digitally remastered by Dan Hersch & Bill Inglot (DigiPrep). Personnel: Tony Bennett (vocals); Tony Bennett; John Giuffrida (bass instrument); George Barnes, Wayne Wright (guitar); Ruby Braff (cornet). Audio Remasterer: Seth Presant. Audio Remixer: Seth Presant. Liner Note Author: Will Friedwald. Recording information: CBS Recording Studios, New York, NY (07/12/1973/07/16/1973). Ensemble: Ruby Braff - George Barnes Quartet. Photographer: Tommy Vano. Rhino's Tony Bennett Sings Rodgers & Hart Songs contains the vocalist's renditions of such standards as "Blue Moon," "Have You Met Miss Jones?" "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" and "The Lady Is a Tramp." Please note that this edition includes the same track listing as the DRG release of the same title. ~ Al Campbell In sessions recorded in September 1973, Tony Bennett cut a series of songs by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, backed by the Ruby Braff - George Barnes Quartet. Originally, they resulted in two albums on Bennett's Improv Records, each containing ten selections. The material has been collected several times, including on the 1990 DRG collection The Rodgers and Hart Songbook, the 1999 Rhino disc Sings Rodgers & Hart Songs, and the 2005 Concord compilation Sings the Rodgers and Hart Songbook. Bennett is a sterling interpreter, and the backup is sympathetic. ~ William Ruhlmann Soon after he left Columbia Records, Tony Bennett recorded a 20-song Rodgers & Hart set in 1973, superbly accompanied by supper-club favorites the Ruby Braff-George Barnes Quartet, and eventually released on two albums through the private Improv label in 1976 and 1977, respectively. This was a both an act of defiance and a statement of purpose on Bennett's part, for there was perhaps no more dispiriting time for singers of the great standards. Still, Bennett chose his ammunition well, for Rodgers & Hart's breezy yet indelible romanticism had always suited this singer and also couldn't have been more out of sync with the times. Our time is a different matter however, and Rhino has seen fit to reissue the original 20-song session in fine remastered sound on one CD. The musical mood here is both tender and jaunty, as especially befits the lyrics of Lorenz Hart, for which Bennett has a particular affinity, so much so that he sings little-known extra verses of "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" to nearly epic effect. "Jaunty" also describes the masterly trumpet interjections of the impish Braff, while the quiet swinging pulse of Barnes' guitar lends the whole project an appropriately informal air. In sessions recorded in September 1973, Tony Bennett cut a series of songs by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, backed by the Ruby Braff - George Barnes Quartet. Originally, they resulted in two albums on Bennett's Improv Records, each containing ten selections. The material has been collected several times, including on the 1990 DRG collection The Rodgers and Hart Songbook, the 1999 Rhino disc Sings Rodgers & Hart Songs, and the 2005 Concord compilation Sings the Rodgers and Hart Songbook. Bennett is a sterling interpreter, and the backup is sympathetic. ~ William Ruhlmann

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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