TONY BENNETT
Playin' With My Friends: Bennett
Sings The Blues (Columbia)
Reviewed by John Sekerka

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Tony! Tony! Tony! The title about says it all, and then some. You know there's trouble afoot when a record has to explain itself in detail before a single note is plucked. Why stop there? Why not slap on a warning sticker: "Tony Bennett does not sing jazz on this record, but he does try awfully hard to tackle the blues, though it sounds very much like his so-called jazz records, but just so he doesn't appear to be beating a dead horse, some primo music stars are along, though this is not a Frank Sinatra Duets rip off cuz the parties involved were actually alive and recorded together in the studio, and don't let the fact that Billy Joel appears scare you, this really is a good record, and even if you really don't care for it, it will make a nice present for someone nostalgic about Tony, cuz apparently, once upon a time, he really was pretty good."

© 2001 - John Sekerka