Tony Bennett has a voice that not many can match. In fact, he brings with him this persona that is very difficult to emulate by today’s artists. He set the standards high enough and then performs so effortlessly that it is hard to determine if he is serious or not. So when they released his latest Duets II album it took a while to actually register that he is actually 85 years old. This was released to celebrate his birthday and is the sequel to his Dues: An American Classic offering previously.
The fact that this album debuted at number 1 in the Billboard 200 meant that he is the oldest living artist to have achieved that remarkable feat. Perhaps the most notable track here is the one he sang with the late Amy Winehouse entitled ‘Body and Soul’ although there are many others which could well be chart toppers too. By pulling in the likes of Lady Gaga (The Lady is a Tramp), John Mayer, Michael Buble, Norah Jones, Josh Groban and Carrie Underwood, it shows just how contemporary Tony is and that he is still very much relevant to today’s industry.
Most of the tracks here are performed to its best by Tony and he seemed to play the mentor role to the newer artists here pretty well. As mentioned, the notable track here ‘Body and Soul’ provides the cross between the new and the previous generation of soulful voices which is very well proven by both the artists. Typically a warm record and well worth listening to.
