90 Minutes With a Living Legend

It was about 6 weeks ago that I opened my e-mail box and read the header on one of the items - Tickets for Tony Bennett on sale tomorrow at 12 noon. I had just seen this living legend about a year and a half ago, but Be had missed the performance. So, at about 11:00 the next day, I did a speed walk (I had just started Weight Watchers) over to Hard Rock Live to buy tickets (and save the Ticketmaster charges). THe venue is right out my back door and I arrived at the box office by 11:40 - had the pick of the seats when it opened. Meanwhile, we received Joanna Mei's referral and got busy with that, and the show just about slipped by when I discovered the tickets in my desk the day previous ....... how fine it was. Here is the review from the Orlando Sentinel .........

Tony Bennett delivered a good one-liner early in his show Friday at Hard Rock Live about how he and Rosemary Clooney "were the first American Idols," back in the big-band era.
Watching Bennett’s masterful performance of timeless standards with his skillful and inventive quartet, it’s obvious that today’s crop of pop singers could learn something from the old man.
On a range of material representing the giants of American composers, Bennett showed that the power of a song isn’t directly related to the number of high notes that you can cram into one measure.
Instead, his expressive style revolves around nuances: The weathered crack at the edge of a phrase or the almost whispered cadence of a verse that ultimately opens into a big, bold crescendo. Combine that skill, with a versatile crew musicians and timeless songs and the result is an exceptional evening where the only flaw was that it ended too soon.

In just under 90 minutes — without an encore, although the audience clamored for one — Bennett hit all the essentials: "Just In Time," Boulevard of Broken Dreams," "The Best Is Yet to Come," "I Got Rhythm," "The Way You Look Tonight," "For Once In My Life" and, of course, the signature "I Left My Heart in San Francisco."
He also reminded the crowd of the subtle charms of other tunes, such as the dramatic slow build of "Maybe This Time" and the frisky rhythms of "They All Laughed."
Although Bennett has done these songs thousands of times, there was a freshness to the performances that stemmed from the creative influence of his band.
Pianist Lee Musiker, bassist Paul Langosch, drummer Harold Jones and guitarist Gray Sargent were given ample turns in the spotlight. The reward was a set that elevated the songs and yielded an intimacy that was almost like a living-room jam session.
The pinnacle of the band’s contribution was the round of solos that ignited a breakneck run through Duke Ellington’s "It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)."
Bennett followed it with an impressive "Fly Me to the Moon" that he performed without a microphone, accompanied only by Sargent’s soft guitar.
Like much of his singing, it asserted its brilliance in a quiet way that makes Bennett a genuine American idol -- if not a flashy one..