Tony Bennett - Playin' With My Friends/Bennett Sings the Blues (2001)

Tony Bennett's latter-day albums tend to have themes, and this one has two, as indicated by its double-barreled title: It is both a duets album and a blues album. The duet partners include ten singers who range from his recent touring partners Diana Krall and k.d. lang to fellow veterans Ray Charles, B.B. King, and Kay Starr, and younger, but still mature pop stars Stevie Wonder, Bonnie Raitt, and Billy Joel. All sound happy to be sharing a mic with Bennett. Not surprisingly, the singer's conception of the blues does not extend to the Mississippi Delta or the South Side of Chicago; rather, he is interested in the blues as filtered through the sound of the Swing Era, particularly from around Kansas City, and as interpreted by Tin Pan Alley and show tunes. For the former, his true mentor is Count Basie, whose overt influence is heard on six of the 15 tracks. Bennett makes no attempt to hide this, leading off the album with two songs, "Alright, Okay, You Win" (a duet with Krall) and "Everyday (I Have the Blues)" (a duet with Wonder), closely associated with Basie singer Joe Williams. The Broadway and Hollywood blues style is introduced in three selections written by Harold Arlen. On about half the tracks, the Ralph Sharon Quartet is augmented by Harry Allen's saxophone and Mike Melvoin's Hammond organ, but this remains a small, intimate affair that emphasizes the singers. There are missteps – Sheryl Crow's Billie Holiday impersonation on "Good Morning, Heartache" is unfortunate, and Natalie Cole, as usual, sounds out of her depth on "Stormy Weather." But the trade-offs Bennett enjoys with King and Charles are priceless, and the Joel duet is surprisingly effective. On the whole, this is yet another entry in Bennett's lengthening series of autumnal recorded triumphs. - by William Ruhlmann, AMG

Tracks:
1. Alright, Okay, You Win - with Diana Krall (Sid Wyche/Mayme Watts) 3:31
2. Everyday (I Have The Blues) - with Stevie Wonder (Peter Chatman) 3:38
3. Don't Cry Baby (Jimmy Johnson/Stella Unger/Saul Bernie) 2:43
4. Good Morning, Heartache - with Sheryl Crow (Dan Fisher/Ervin Drake/Irene Higginbotham) 4:56
5. Let The Good Times Roll - with B.B.King (Sam Theard/Jordan Fleecie Moore) 3:14
6. Evenin' - with Ray Charles (Harry White/Mitchell Parish) 4:14
7. I Gotta Right To Sing The Blues - with Bonnie Raitt (Harold Arlen/Ted Koehler) 3:55
8. Keep The Faith, Baby - with k.d. lang (Luchi DeJesus/Mayme Watts/Lila Lerner) 3:51
9. Old Count Basie Is Gone (Old Piney Brown Is Gone) (Joe Turner) 3:24
10. Blue and Sentimental - with Kay Starr (Count Basie/Jerry Livingston/Mack David) 3:20
11. New York State Of Mind - with Billy Joel (Billy Joel) 4:30
12. Undecided Blues (James Rushing) 3:17
13. Blues In The Night (Johnny Mercer/Harold Arlen) 3:33
14. Stormy Weather - with Natalie Cole (Harold Arlen/Ted Koehler) 4:34
15. Playin' With My Friends - with Various Duet Artists (Robert Cray) 4:47

Personnel:
Tony Bennett (Vocals)
Ralph Sharon (Piano)
Clayton Cameron (Drums)
Paul Langosch (Double Bass)
Gray Sargent (Guitar)
Harry Allen (Saxophone) - 3,4,6,7,9,15
Mike Melvoin (Hammond B3) - 3,6,7,9,10,15
Diana Krall (Piano and Vocals) - 1
Stevie Wonder (Vocals and Keyboards) - 2
Sheryl Crow (Guitar and Vocals) - 4
B.B. King (Guitar and Vocals) - 5
Ray Charles (Vocals and Piano) - 6
Bonnie Ratt (Vocals and Guitar) - 7
K.D. Lang (Vocals) - 8
Kay Starr (Vocals) - 10
Billy Joel (Vocals) - 11
Nathalie Cole (Vocals) - 14

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