Friday, November 9, 2007

Tony Bennett -- Pop or Jazz?

Quick, name three songs you know by Tony Bennett. I admit that prior to last week, I probably could not have done that. This week, I have a better chance of being able to do so now that I've seen him perform -- albeit briefly. Tony stopped by my day job last Monday to talk about the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts that he co-founded in 2001. He also sang four songs: They All Laughed, Who Cares?, The Good Life, and I Left My Heart in San Francisco. While his voice is very distinct and identifiable, what struck me most about this particular performance was the interesting subject matter of the tunes. His lyrics not only included references to business and famous cities, but also inventors like the Wright Brothers, Marconi, Whitney, and Edison. Having written songs in the past about technical innovation and the work place, I was inspired to hear some of his songs cover a variety of topics beyond what mainstream music tends to address today. So is he classified as pop or jazz? His songs are listed under both categories on iTunes, while on Wikipedia they call his genre "standards" as well as "traditional pop." Regardless, I may go ahead and search out one of his albums for a more detailed listen. An octogenarian, Tony looked to have an impressive amount of energy and charisma -- another point of inspiration.

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