Tony Bennett is releasing his new duets album (appropriately titled Duets II) on September 20 featuring guest appearances by some of the music industry’s most noteworthy stars. As part of the MTV Video Music Awards tribute to Amy Winehouse, Bennett talked a bit about recording with Amy in the studio and then showed a clip of their duet performance of “Body and Soul” in which Amy seemed to have recaptured her vocal magic.
Now we have been treated to another clip with another one of the best young female performers in music today, Lady Gaga. Bennett and Gaga team up on “The Lady Is A Tramp” to kick off the album, and I think it sounds great!
Maybe this recording will inspire Gaga to do an album of standards – that would be just unexpected enough to be possible don’t you think?
Just as Mr. Bennett was blown away by his time with Amy Winehouse, he was also impressed with Lady Gaga, going so far as to say this about the singer in an interview with Billboard:
“I never met a more talented person in my life… I think she’s going to become as big as Elvis Presley.”
That may sound a bit like hyperbole, but I’d say Lady Gaga is pretty close to being as big as Elvis already!
I am now officially stoked to hear Duets II, especially considering it also features duet super-guru (And one of my favorite people on the planet) Willie Nelson! Here’s a complete track listing with the artists:
1. The Lady Is A Tramp (with Lady Gaga)
2. One For My Baby (And One More For The Road) (with John Mayer)
3. Body And Soul (with Amy Winehouse)
4. Don’t Get Around Much Anymore (with Michael Bublé)
5. Blue Velvet (with k.d. lang)
6. How Do You Keep The Music Playing (with Aretha Franklin)
7. The Girl I Love (with Sheryl Crow)
8. On The Sunny Side of the Street (Willie Nelson)
9. Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me) (with Queen Latifah)
10. Speak Low (with Norah Jones)
11. This Is All I Ask (with Josh Groban)
12. Watch What Happens (with Natalie Cole)
13. Stranger In Paradise (with Andrea Bocelli)
14. The Way You Look Tonight (with Faith Hill)
15. Yesterday I Heard The Rain (with Alejandro Sanz)
16. It Had To Be You (with Carrie Underwood)
17. When Do The Bells Ring For Me (with Mariah Carey)
To wrap things up, here’s a sweet happy birthday message from Lady Gaga to Tony Bennett on his 85th birthday:
