2008 album release Swingin' Christmas featuring the Count Basie Big Band. Bennett has 15 Grammy Awards along with the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (2001). 'Tony Bennett is among the most recognized human beings on the planet.' ~Vanity Fair. The album tracks are 'The Christmas Song', 'Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas', 'I'll Be Home for Christmas, 'Winter Wonderland', 'Santa Claus Is Coming to Town', 'Christmas Time is Here', 'My Favorite Things', 'The Christmas Waltz', 'Christmas Auld Lang Syne', 'Silver Bells' and 'Christmas Tree'.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
Tony Bennett Christmas:
Tony Bennett at his best sharing his talents with other musicians. A real treat!!
Feh...:
I really admire Tony Bennett, and I love Count Basie; their albums together, though not the equal of Basie's work with Sinatra, are outstanding...but the engineering/production on this disc is very flat. It reduces the sound of the Basie band to a quasi-karaoke background (it sounds more like a trio than a band); there's no 'richness' in the playing. Since Bennett's voice is understandably thin at this point in his career, the result is a washed-out sound that sounds more like a demo than a finished... more info
Reality Check:
I wanted to really get excited over this release, since I really like jazz big bands doing holiday music - with or without singers. At 37 minutes and 6 seconds, this CD reminds me of an LP and is very short on music. The Basie band is "featured" on only 6 of the 11 tracks and is very subdued. As described on the "Making Of" DVD, Tony Bennett has his own tempo - and this is a tempo different from the normal Basie band tempo. This "Making Of" DVD also has the Basie band working with Bennett on "A Christmas... more info
A Little Disappointed:
We love Tony Bennett AND big band music, but we were a little disappointed in this. Just seemed bland, with little feeling.
Tracks:
I'll Be Home For Christmas
Silver Bells
All I Want For Christmas Is You
My Favorite Things
Christmas Time Is Here
Winter Wonderland
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
Santa Claus is Coming to Town
I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm duet with Antonia
