Sept. 20, 1985 Gusto Events & Openings: Tony Bennett

 


Tony Bennett would not be with us much longer – we all knew that – but I still couldn’t help but feel a profound sense of loss when I woke up to hear Scott Simon talking about him in the past tense today on NPR’s “Morning Edition.” I never met him or reviewed one of his shows here in Buffalo, but one day 38 years ago I got a chance to talk with him on the phone. 

Gusto Events & Openings

Sept. 20, 1985 

Two Times an Artist

          “It gives me great balance,” singer Tony Bennett says of his newly-recognized avocation – painting. “I’ve been sold out all over the world since ‘I Left My Heart in San Francisco’ and now, to have another career. Painting’s such a quiet thing and the theater’s so extroverted. But I’m not a Sunday painter. I do it every day – in the hotel, on my way to New York or maybe waiting in an airport. I take this portable equipment with me. I committed myself 27 years ago to become, hopefully, some day, a great painter.”

          Bennett’s gotten the first major showing of his watercolors, gouaches and lithographs this year at Artexpo in Los Angeles and the response has been terrific. Cary Grant bought one depicting a scene from the south of France. Prices range from $750 for the lithographs to more than $25,000 for the paintings. A number of prestigious galleries are discussing art shows in conjunction with his singing appearances.

          Singing’s going well too. Later this month he’ll perform at the Emmy Awards. He’s appeared at the Montreal Jazz Festival and at Blues Alley in Washington, D.C.’s Georgetown section. And he’s getting ready to record his first major-label LP in several years, with sessions to include the London Philharmonic. 

          “I’ve really found some great songs,” he says. “The beauty of it is that I’ve had 10 years to find them. I’ve got tunes by Steven Sondheim, Cy Coleman, Michel LeGrand, Stevie Wonder. I’m even doing a new song that Fred Astaire wrote. It’s a wonderful song about L.A. called ‘City of Angels.’ I like the fact that I’m taking time with this. The extra care will show.”

          Bennett will give a sample of what he’s up to in Shea’s Buffalo tonight as part of the “Curtain Up!” festivities, singing with a 27-piece orchestra as well as with the combo that’s accompanied him for the past 30 years, the Ralph Sharon Trio.

* * * * *

IN THE PHOTO: Self-portrait by the artist, clipped from The Buffalo News on newspapers.com.

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