From the Editorial Board: Tony Bennett was the keeper of the American songbook and a Ravinia favorite. But he did something especially great in later life.
Tony Bennett acknowledges the crowd as he performs at Ravinia in Highland Park on August 4, 2017.
The Great American Songbook doesn’t refer to a particular publication. It’s a catchall term for the music of Broadway shows, Hollywood musicals and the cabaret-friendly songs that streamed out of Tin Pan Alley, that strip of Manhattan where music publishers, song pluggers and aspiring artists combined to create a soundtrack for an optimistic young country.
Its leading songwriters? Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, Harold Arlen, Jerome Kern, Johnny Mercer, George Gershwin. Many were Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe, hoping their sheet music would lift them to a better life.Over the years, this genre has needed guardians. The rise of rock ’n’ roll delivered a punch to its belly. Electronic instrumentation was another blow. Although it once pulsed with the vitality of youth, it became known as the music of your parents..
Even as the world kept changing, and to many minds kept getting worse, Bennett was a constant. Crucially, he offered a measure of balm and restoration. He did not have Frank Sinatra’s abrasion or even Sammy Davis Jr.’s level of talent. But he was knowable, a singer who knew how to reflect his audience back at them. And to convey their aspirations for love, friendship and happiness as he did so.
This newspaper wrote about Bennett every time, and at other times too, as our longtime jazz critic Howard Reich was to some degree Bennett’s Boswell, writing story after story and review after review admiring and dissecting all Bennett had done for this kind of music and for the people of this city.
Indonesia Berita Terbaru, Indonesia Berita utama
Similar News:Anda juga dapat membaca berita serupa dengan ini yang kami kumpulkan dari sumber berita lain.
Looking back at Lady Gaga's friendship with Tony Bennett: 'Tony saved my life'The world may know Stefani Germanotta as Lady Gaga. But to Tony Bennett, she was “Lady.”
Baca lebih lajut »
Tony Bennett, masterful stylist of American musical standards, dies at 96Tony Bennett, the eminent stylist and last of the great saloon singers whose devotion to classic American songs and knack for creating new standards such as 'I Left My Heart In San Francisco' graced a decadeslong career, has died at 96.
Baca lebih lajut »
Tony Bennett, masterful stylist of American musical standards, dies at 96Tony Bennett, the eminent stylist and last of the great saloon singers whose devotion to classic American songs and knack for creating new standards such as 'I Left My Heart In San Francisco' graced a decadeslong career, has died at 96.
Baca lebih lajut »
Tony Bennett, masterful stylist of American musical standards, dies at 96Tony Bennett, the eminent and timeless stylist whose devotion to classic American songs and knack for creating new standards such as 'I Left My Heart In San Francisco' graced a decadeslong career, died at 96.
Baca lebih lajut »
Tony Bennett, masterful stylist of American musical standards, dies at 96Tony Bennett, the eminent and timeless stylist whose devotion to classic American songs and knack for creating new standards such as “I Left My Heart In San Francisco” graced a decades-long career that brought him admirers from Frank Sinatra to Lady Gaga, died Friday at the age of 96.
Baca lebih lajut »