Hard to believe . . . but come this August, Tony Bennett turns 80. Even harder to conceive . . . Tony's `ageless' arranger/conductor for this "2006 Grammy award-winning album" - Johnny Mandel -- turns 81 this year. Even more incredibly, both men are doing their finest work! Witness this album, an exquisitely beautiful collection of love songs - many of them definitively performed on a collection that actually lives up to its auspicious title -- "The Art of Romance."

Mandel, the acknowledged `dean' of today's orchestral string arrangers, told Nancy Sinatra (around the same time this album was recorded) that his "great regret" as an arranger was never getting to do even ONE album of slow, romantic songs with Frank Sinatra.

In 1960 Mandel had arranged the very FIRST album for Sinatra's then brand-new `Reprise' record label: the brilliant, brassy "Ring-a-Ding Ding!" (ALWAYS one of Sinatra's personal favorite albums) comprised entirely of up-tempo swing tunes.

[Johnny Mandel expressed that regret -- about never getting to arrange any slow ballads for Sinatra -- two years ago (March 25, 2004) while conducting a hauntingly beautiful orchestral supplement he'd arranged for the final track ("Silent Night") - on the "Sinatra Christmas Collection" CD (2004).]

Well . . . if you're the sort of person who ever wondered what sort of classic, ballad arrangements Johnny Mandel might have produced for the OTHER "best, male popular singer" (Sinatra singled out Tony as his favorite male singer) . . . your question is answered here, I believe.

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I ordered this album from Amazon.com a week ago -- BEFORE it won the Grammy for its category, earlier this month: It was there in the mailbox, waiting for me when I got home this evening: Now I can't stop listening to it! It's one of those rare albums you may never tire of hearing - and each time, find something new that you hadn't spotted on previous listenings.

Arranged (mostly) by Mandel -- who also conducts the huge orchestra -- "Art of Romance" is surely the best album of its kind, by any MALE singer, in recent decades. Coincidentally (or maybe not) it's the best such recording for Tony since his classic "Movie Song Album" of 40 years ago -- whose "musical director" was . . . Mandel: Johnny conducted nine of the Movie theme songs, including two he'd recently written (songs superbly covered at the time by Frank Sinatra -- "Emily" and "The Shadow of Your Smile").

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Johnny Mandel wrote three of the first four tracks selected by Tony to set the tone for this amazing program : Track one is the hauntingly beautiful "Close Enough for Love" (lyric by Paul Williams) followed by "Where Do You Start" (one my favorites - co-written with "The Bergmans" -- Marilyn and Alan) plus "Little Did I Dream" (a seldom-heard gem, that Johnny co-wrote with David Frishberg).

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Frank Sinatra never got around to recording what many of us consider Johnny Mercer's best song: "I Remember You." But when you hear Tony's `take' on this song (which other song-writers have nominated as the best, popular song lyric ever written) especially as it's heard here, with Mandel's evocative, `celestial' string arrangement - it's hard to imagine a better recording of the song Johnny Mercer himself considered his personal favorite lyrical `child.'

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Author Truman Capote wrote some ravishingly beautiful song lyrics - but none finer than his words for Harold Arlen's "Don't Like Good-byes." Prediction: If you live to be 100, you'll never hear a finer rendition of this song! The `take-your-breath-away' beauty of the arrangement (by Jorge Calandrelli) is so fresh in its conception - cleverly holding back the song's (seldom-heard) opening verse --until almost the very end; something Sinatra himself did to brilliant effect . . . most notably on HIS lone album with . . . Johnny Mandel 46 years ago!

By the time Sinatra turned 80, `The Voice' had lost much of its power. Not so Tony Bennett - whose vocal instrument, incredibly, has NEVER sounded more powerful than here and now -- on "The Art of Romance." Just listen to the supple strength of Tony's ageless voice on what MAY be this album's greatest melody -- from composer Harold Arlen . . . with those lyrically perfect words from Truman Capote:

"Have I found the answer?
Yes! She's the only answer
Guess I won't have to guide her . . .
Just walk beside her . . .
Can't you see it clearly
That I love her dearly?

Found the girl to lean upon . . .
And if I could arrange it
Oh would I care to change it?
Not me!

With his amazing longevity (Eveready bunny-like), Tony Bennett keeps on making high quality music. This new album is very much like his previous 30 or 40, with a few subtle differences like pianist Lee Musiker in place of Ralph Sharon. Tony's remarkable singing is still the same, though, and the songs are mostly pretty swell. (I'm not going to dwell on the couple of tunes that fell a little short.) Included are several well chosen numbers by a couple of top Johnny's (Mandel & Mercer), along with the work of Jerome Kern, Stephen Sondheim, and others of similar stature. I luxuriated in the beautiful "All For You," which is a variation on Django Reinhardt's "Nuages," with new lyrics by Tony himself! The song just sparkles, with an expressive vocal from Bennett, plus a delicate piano part by Musiker and a smooth and rich orchestra arrangement by Mandel. The closing track, "Gone With the Wind," is similarly fabulous. I must admit that the album's title threw me a bit. "'The Art of Romance?' I thought, 'Don't I have that already?" But no, I was thinking of 1986's 'The Art of Excellence.' (To confuse me further, both CDs have "question title" songs by the Bergmans -- "How Do You Keep The Music Playing?" on 'Excellence,' and "Where Do You Start" on the new disc.) Anyway, this new one is a really good listen.

This recording won the Best Traditional Vocal Pop Album in the 48th Annual Grammy Awards. My congratulations to Tony Bennett, conductor/arranger Johnny Mandel, arranger/pianist Lee Musiker, arranger Jorge Calandrelli, producers Phil Ramone and Danny Bennett, and the rest of the talented musicians involved in such a remarkable recording.

The repertoire consists of eleven slow tempo ballads that reflect the joy and pain of love and romance. These songs are seldom recorded but were made so remarkable and worthy to any music lover with Johnny Mandel's rich orchestration and superb arrangements as well as Tony Bennett's elegant style of singing. The quality of his voice never changes, there's still that eternal glow in his voice akin to a fine wine that enhances its richness with the passage of time. His vocal elegance has that special kind of power that gets to the listener's ears and evokes a wonderful marriage of elegance and power, and to think that he was in his late seventies when this album was recorded in 2004.

Tony Bennett is not only a great singer but also a talented songwriter as he penned the lyrics of one of the highlights of this album, "All For You," which was adapted from "Nuages" by one of guitar legends, Django Reinhardt. He also gave "I Remember You" the retire-the-trophy treatment and Johnny Mandel presented his flawless arrangement to make this version stand out. It's simply *the best* version I've ever heard so far. I love the tempo on Lee Musiker-arranged-track, Johnny Mandel and David Frishberg's "Little Did I Dream," which features Phil Woods on sax.

Another stand out is his heartfelt and moving interpretation of "Where Do You Start?" -- a poignant song penned by the brilliant team of Alan and Marilyn Bergman and the melody was composed by a gifted Oscar-winning composer and arranger, Johnny Mandel.

"Where do you start?
How do you separate the present from the past?
How do you deal with all the things
you thought would last, that didn't last?
With bits of memories scattered here and there
I look around and don't know where to start
Which books are yours?
Which tapes and dreams belong you
And which are mine?"

Mr. Bennett is also a creative artist having done some artworks and portraits of the fine musicians in this album as shown on the CD inside cover: Gray Sargent (guitar), Lee Musiker (piano), Clayton Cameron (drums), Paul Langosch (bass) and Candido Camero (congas on "Being Alive"). He paints under the name of Anthony Benedetto, his birth name. I'm so impressed with his incredible works of art. I've checked out some of his artworks and I would say they're so charming, especially his watercolor paintings of still life flowers and oil paintings of landscapes.

Thanks so kindly to a friend of mine who recommended this CD to me. It's a CD to treasure and enjoy forever. This is truly an award-winning album. I wholeheartedly recommend it for your listening enjoyment.

The Art Of Romance is a fine Tony Bennett CD of him singing his heart out on these great and classic love songs. The quality of the sound is excellent; and the artwork is very thoughtfully done. This is a wonderful CD for Tony's fans; and it makes a great starter CD for people new to Tony's artistry.

The CD starts with Tony Bennett singing so well on "Close Enough For Love;" he massages the lyrics to this song and this is anything but elevator music! Tony never misses a beat and despite his age he truly sounds as good as he ever did. "Close Enough For Love" is an excellent starting tune for this album and I predict you'll like it very much. "All In Fun" is a poignant love song with Tony singing a number of somewhat staccato notes to make this number a special one; the elegant piano arrangement is very well done and it never takes the spotlight away from Tony--great! Tony Bennett is in his true element here; he sings these ballads with lots of feeling and that's grand.

"Where Do You Start" has Tony squarely in the spotlight--and that's OK by me! I really like "Where Do You Start;" and the lush musical arrangement complements Tony's singing to perfection. "I Remember You" is a tune that shines so brightly when Tony delivers it with this stunning arrangement; it moves a little bit slower than I'm used to--but make no mistake about it, Tony does this with panache and it's all very impressive.

"All For You" showcases Tony's incredible voice; it ahs deepened a bit with time but his voice is still quite good and "All For You" is easily a major highlight of this album. Tony performs "All For You" with all his heart and soul and just one listen proves it. "The Best Man" gets a jazzy, somewhat upbeat melody and Tony swings and sways brightly as he sings this without a superfluous note! "The Best Man" tells a story that isn't always so happy but the song is still very good and great to hear.

"Don't Like Goodbyes" has a very lush musical arrangement that helps make this number a great one; and Tony aces this easily. Of course, we know that it really wasn't so easy--Tony's talents always carried him through and he could make it look easy because he was so naturally gifted. There's also a song called "Being Alive;" "Being Alive" isn't exactly my favorite tune on this album but it does work well.

The CD ends very strong with Tony Bennett performing "Gone With The Wind." "Gone With The Wind" comes from the movie of the same name and it makes a stunning conclusion to this album. Wow!

Tony Bennett is one of the very best male vocalists we've ever seen; and this CD will be a very big plus for his fans. Thank you, Tony!

My God, how does he do it? This man is 78 years old with the vocal instrument of a young man. I've been a fan of Tony Bennett for over 50 years and I swear, he gets better with each new album. Five cuts were arranged by Johnny Mandel, three of which are his original songs, and it's difficult to say which modifies the other...the singer or the arranger. Tony has never sounded better...not to mention the rest of the CD which is also outstanding. I defy any singer past, present, or future, to surpass Tony and Johnny with "I Remember You" and "Gone With The Wind". To hear music as it once sounded and perhaps never will again is like opening up a time capsule of musical wonderment that the world has lost or at least forgotten. There's a line in the movie, "I'll See You In My Dreams" when someone says to Gus Kahn..."The kids of today have forgotten how to say 'I love you'. Your music says is for them". That's applies as well to Tony Bennett. He can sing, "I love you" for all generations to relate. The CD is a 'must have' for music aficionados of days gone by and unfortunately never to return. I'm sorry I can only rate it with five stars...it's bigger than that!