Track Listing

1. Solitude
2. All of Me
3. When a Woman Loves a Man
4. Me, Myself and I
5. She's Funny That Way
6. If I Could Be With You (One Hour Tonight)
7. Willow Weep for Me
8. Laughing at Life
9. I Wished on the Moon
10. What a Little Moonlight Can Do
11. My Old Flame
12. That Ole Devil Called Love
13. Ill Wind
14. These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You)
15. Some Other Spring
16. Crazy She Calls Me
17. Good Morning Heartache
18. Trav'lin' Light
19. God Bless the Child - Tony Bennett, Billie Holiday

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #239238 in Music
• Released on: 1997-02-04
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.com
For those of us who have long loved Tony Bennett, the singer's new album, "Tony Bennett on Holiday: A Tribute to Billie Holiday," is a sad affair. The 70-year-old crooner's voice now creaks where it once glided; it misses notes it once nailed to the wall. On this outing, his high spirits are as contagious as ever, but his elegant musicality is gone. Even in Bennett's best years, a tribute to Holiday would have been a dubious proposition, for it's hard to imagine two more different singers. He's a brassy bugle call of ringing declarations; she was a muted trumpet solo of sighs, hints, and whispers. This is especially obvious on the album's version of "God Bless the Child," which electronically combines Holiday's original track with Bennett's new one to create one of those hokey timewarp duets with the dead. But even on the 18 other songs associated with Holiday, one can hear how ill-suited Bennett's maximalism is for Holiday's minimalist arrangements. Even if he could still hit all the notes. --Geoffrey Himes

Customer Reviews

A good tribute to Lady Day
Although not one of Tony's greatest albums, this still makes for good listening. The songs of course, are all wonderful, and even though Tony's voice is a little off at times, a little raspy or slightly off-key, well, we must remember, that Billie's voice wasn't always at it's best either. The arrangements are well done, some with just Ralph Sharon on piano, and some with orchestra. Tony doesn't try to imitate Billie, he uses his own styling and phrasing, and for the most part, I think he's done a good job. 19 beautiful songs .. a fitting tribute to Lady Day.

A fine recording
Before buying this CD, I did not own any recordings by Tony Bennett, so my opinion is not colored by comparisons with his previous work. I own a compilation of Billie Holiday's most famous tunes, which I have enjoyed immensely. Although the two singers may have very different styles, that only increases my interest in this fine tribute; it is at such times that something truly magical and unexpected can occur. I would not say that this disc rises to quite those heights, but I do find it to be an elegant recording by a mature, seasoned professional. I could have done without the duet from beyond the grave, though.

A great non-commercial Tony Bennett CD...
This very artisticly rewarding CD places Tony Bennett in the able hands of The Ralph Sharon Trio(with occasional strings). This CD is excellent, Bennet never sounded better, and he truly feels the songs of Billie Holiday. The only down side is the creepy duet with Billie Holiday(wouldn't it have made more sense for him to duet with fellow Billie Holiday idolizer Anita O'Day, who's still an active singer). Anyhow this CD is recommedned and is very jazz oriented, also don't forget to pick up his latest "Bennett Sings Ellington: Hot & Cool" and a couple of classic recommemded Bennett re-issues on CD are "Tony Bennett/Bill Evans-Together Again" and "The Beat Of My Heart" are both very jazz priented, and highly enjoyable.