This is a great CD! It takes its place along with In Person! as an absolutely essential Tony Bennett compact disc. The period from 1972 to 1985 was a sort of wilderness period for Mr. Bennett, having no steady recording label. He left/was dropped from Columbia around '72/'73 and did not return until 1986. Consequently his recorded output during those years is limited. But this disc is truly the tops! I would definitely take it to a desert island with me! I won't mention highlights because there is not a bad or mediocre track among the 20! If Rhino can uncover/release this obscurity, why can't Columbia/Sony release all of Tony Bennett's albums between 1954 and 1973 that are currently not on disc! Such as When Lights Are Low, Alone Together, etc. Tony Bennett is a living national treasure! His recorded work should be available in its entirety just as Frank Sinatra's is and Ella Fitzgerald's nearly is! I understand a handful of Mr. Bennett's albums are available on disc in Japan. If Amazon can import from Japan, they definitely should!

The album's merits have already been written about. I just want to address one of the previous reviewers that stated that Ella just sings the songs. I have several of her songs on my computer and let me tell you she Scoo-bots and Dee-Dabs through most of the songs. There is one recording that is a 5 minute song where literally 3 minutes and 15 seconds are her scatting, not singing a lick of lyrics. Bennet would never do that and certainly doesn't on this album. I find it pretty to the point singing, with his signature style.

If you don't love Tony Bennett and you want to get a compilation of Rodgers and Hart sung by the same person, I'd turn your eyes and ears to Ella Fitzgerald's two disc set. Now THAT is fantastic! This is too loungy for me. Throughout every song, Bennett can't just sing the song. He has to give you a constant reminder that it's HIM singing.

Just how live versions of songs aren't nearly as good as studio recordings because the live versions always seem to have an annoying twist to a song that makes it hard to sing to, Tony Bennett does the same thing with this set.

I don't know if he's trying to make love to his audience or just lounge their ears, but he's definitely not just singing the songs. Ella Fitzgerald just sings the songs, and by doing so, with her voice and talent, sings their songs perfectly.

If you love it loungy and you're in love with Tony, well, here you go.

With twenty marvelous songs by the incomparable song writing team of Richard Rogers and Lorenz Hart and the impecable artistry of the inimitable Tony Bennett, this is as near perfection as you can achieve. Bennett is at the very peak of his talent on the beautiful Manhattan, Lady Is A Tramp, This Can't Be Love, I Could Write A Book, Spring Is Here and so many many more. Without a major record contract at this point in his career, this recording never recieved the promotion or exposure it deserved. Pick up on this overlooked gem. The combination of Tony Bennett and Rogers and Hart simply doesn't get any better.

If you love jazz, or the Great American Songbook, just buy this album. I've been listening to these tracks for 35 years, and I never get tired of them, and I continue to learn from them.

Tony is terrific, but he always is, What is so special about this album, though, is the BAND, a drummer-less, piano-less quartet featuring Ruby Braff on coronet and the pitch perfect George Braff on guitar. The quartet originally came together to back up Tony at Carnegie Hall, and when no recording was made, Tony financed this recording so there would be a record of their performance.

The arrangements are light, sparse, and are radiant with Braff's immense musicality - just listen to the opening riff for "Mountain Greenery", or the pure, unrestrained fun in Braff and Barne's interplay at the end of "I Wish I Were in Love Again". With such a small and responsive band, Tony can sing softly and intimately, and reveal a musicianship that sometimes gets lost under lush arrangements. Its a treasure.