Published on Sep 9, 2003
I can just hear you all. ‘Come on, Duke,
Tony-freakin’-BENNETT?’
Yep. Tony Bennett is, frankly, one of the greatest jazz and
swing vocalists of all time. With astonishingly vocal longevity, he
has remained fresh and relevant while many of his peers have burned
out, dropped out of sight, or are just no longer with us. Bennett
has the rare gift of making whatever he sings moving, interesting,
and new. When you combine his vocals with the songs of the peerless
Duke Ellington, you have the major potential for some serious
magic. Regardless of your preferred musical preference, a bit of
this should do you good.
But how good, exactly, is it? Let’s be realistic; it’s tough to
cover Duke Ellington, because, well, everyone in this genre has as
one point or another, and you’re going to get compared to others.
So how does Bennett do?
The answer is pretty well, but not perfect. The oddest thing
about
Hot And Cool is that Bennett actually does better on the
lesser-known (lesser-known here is a relative term, y’all)
Ellington pieces. The CD starts off with the swinging “Do Nothin’
(Till You Hear From Me)”, and Bennett nails it perfectly. Same with
“Azure”, “In A Sentimental Mood”, “She’s Got It Bad (And That Ain’t
Good)”, and the bass-driven smoky swing of “In A Mellow Tone”. A
little less impressive is his version of “Don’t Get Around Much
Anymore” — an Ellington classic, to me Bennett’s version seems to
drag a little. Maybe I can’t help but compare it to Chicago’s
dynamite cover from their
Night And Day CD. I’m also not crazy about Bennett’s version
of “Caravan”; one of my favorite Ellington works, Bennett sounds
forced and a bit drawn at times. Finally, the constant ‘drop-ins’
of a few bars of “Take The A Train” really got on my nerves; by the
end of the CD, I found myself really wishing that Bennett would
just
sing the damn thing.
Admittedly, these are minor concerns, and perhaps my personal
biases are showing. Certainly, Bennett closes
Hot And Cool with a bang, nailing “It Don’t Mean A Thing (If
It Ain’t Got That Swing)” with a driving, bright, and stylish take
on this classic. A good closing number will forgive myriad sins on
a jazz CD, and
Hot And Cool delivers in style.
Hot And Cool succeeds as a Tony Bennett album and a Duke
Ellington tribute. There may be occasional moments where it slips a
little, but on the whole it’s a good CD and worth looking into for
fans of either artist.