Maps of Music

Bennett/Berlin (1987)

Where the lyrics of Bennett/Berlin take you, and where it was really made.

Tony Bennett's 1987 album is built entirely on songs by one writer, Irving Berlin, and its guest soloists include Dizzy Gillespie and Dexter Gordon.

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Bennett/Berlin: album by the American musician Tony Bennett
Released in 1987
Tribute album to Irving Berlin
All twelve tracks written by Irving Berlin
Guests: Dizzy Gillespie, Dexter Gordon, George Benson
Sony Music Distribution included the album in the 2011 box set The Complete Collection

The album honors the songwriter Irving Berlin, and his songs make up the whole track list
Track list runs from "They Say It's Wonderful" (2:02) to "White Christmas" (3:05)
Other tracks include "All of My Life" (4:37), "Cheek to Cheek" (3:25) and "Russian Lullaby" (2:11)
The Italian Wikipedia entry describes the album as a studio album and a tribute album to Irving Berlin
The album's release year is 1987, and its catalogue is shown alongside Bennett's other recordings of standards
The box set that later included it was released in 2011

Born Anthony Dominick Benedetto on August 3, 1926, in Long Island City, Queens, New York City.
Grew up in poverty after his father, a grocer, became unable to work and died when Tony was ten.
Sang for money from age 13 as a singing waiter in Italian restaurants in Queens.
Attended New York's School of Industrial Art but dropped out at 16 to help support his family.

Drafted into the U.S. Army in November 1944 and fought as an infantryman in the final stages of World War II.
Stayed in Germany with the occupying force and sang with an Army Special Services band under the name Joe Bari.

Studied bel canto at the American Theatre Wing on the GI Bill; Pearl Bailey and Bob Hope helped launch him, and Hope shortened his name to Tony Bennett.
Signed with Columbia Records in 1950; first number-one hit "Because of You" in 1951.
Shifted toward jazz singing in the late 1950s; "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" (1962) became his signature song.
Declined commercially during the rock era and struggled with addiction and debt until a comeback in the late 1980s, managed by his son Danny.
The 1994 MTV Unplugged album won the Grammy for Album of the Year.

Collaborated with Lady Gaga from Cheek to Cheek (2014) through Love for Sale (2021).
Won 20 Grammy Awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award, and sold more than 50 million records worldwide.
Received a Kennedy Center Honor in 2005 and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Co-founded the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts in Queens with Susan Crow.

The Chicago Tribune wrote that Bennett's wisdom, emotional insight and interpretative daring have grown by leaps and bounds.
The album was reviewed in terms of the singer's interpretation of Irving Berlin's material, which is the core of the record.
The review focuses on how the singer's judgment and feeling had developed over his career, not on the arrangements alone.

Sony Music Distribution included the album in the 2011 box set The Complete Collection.
The album presents twelve songs, all written by Irving Berlin, in a single tribute program.
Guest soloists Dizzy Gillespie, Dexter Gordon and George Benson appear on selected tracks.
Danny Bennett is credited as producer, and Bob Ludwig is credited for mastering.
Annie Leibovitz is credited for photography, and Josephine DiDonato for artwork.
The credits list Ralph Sharon on piano, Paul Langosch on double bass and Joe LaBarbera on drums.
The record's chronology places it among Bennett's late-1980s releases, and its later reissue appears in the box set.

Dizzy Gillespie played trumpet on track 5, "The Song is Ended (but the Melody Lingers On)", and on track 11, "Russian Lullaby".
Dexter Gordon played saxophone on track 3, "All of My Life", and on track 12, "White Christmas".
George Benson played guitar on track 7, "Cheek to Cheek".
The album closes with "White Christmas", at 3:05.
Annie Leibovitz is credited for the photography.
Sony Music Distribution placed the album in the 2011 box set The Complete Collection.