Happy Birthday Tony Bennett!
Tony Bennett chose to spend his 88th birthday performing a second sold out show at Mission Hill Winery on Saturday night. Being a lover of the standards, I jumped at the chance to witness a performance by such an icon of the popular jazz era. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think Bennet is the last living crooner. Or perhaps I'm not giving him full credit with that description. Saturday night he proved he was more than a crooner, improvising on standard melodies and performing fresh arrangements of songs that have been re-arranged many times over. I was really impressed by Mr. Bennett who has great chops at his advanced age. I was pleasantly surprised by the strength of his voice, and he can belt with the best of them. There may have been a few off notes, but one rarely hears a perfect performance at any concert regardless of the singer's age and he nailed many high notes with apparent ease. "One for my Baby..." I e...