IN CONCERT
Tony Bennett
Where: Royal Theatre
When: Monday, 7: 30 p.m.
Tickets: Starting at $114 (250-386-6121)
Tony Bennett wowed Victorians back in 2009, delivering a robust Royal Theatre concert stuffed with American songbook chestnuts.
Then 83, Bennett's trademark phrasing - hip and seemingly effortless - was fully intact. And, remarkably, his singing was still strong. If some suppleness had diminished, his voice had taken on a huskiness that was irresistible.
Now, three years later, Anthony Dominick Benedetto returns to the Royal with his jazz quartet. At 86, Bennett is still very much in the game. He's poised to put out a new album, Tony Bennett: Viva Duets, pairing him with such Latin singers as Marc Anthony and Gloria Estefan. The disc, set for October release, aims to replicate the commercial success of Bennett's other duet recording, Duets: An American Classic (his highestcharting album ever) and last year's Duets II.
The sa国际传媒 caught up with Bennett this week via email.
Q: Have you changed your singing technique as you've gotten older?
A: I started out as a tenor and now am more of a baritone. But in terms of how I approach singing, I don't feel that has changed. My goal has always been to communicate the song the way the songwriter intended. And I always try to create the most definitive version of a song.
Q: What drives you to keep singing and touring?
A: I just love performing for a live audience. When I was growing up in Astoria, Queens [New York], during the Depression, our family, like so many others, did not have money for anything but the basics. So if you bought a record, it had to be a recording the whole family would like.
We just had to create our own entertainment and every Sunday, my aunts and uncles would gather at our house. And my brother, sister and I would perform for everyone.
That is when I knew that this is what I was meant to be. I would look forward every week until it was Sunday, and I had the chance to perform again. My family was so supportive that they gave me the drive to become an entertainer.
Q: You're able to handle being famous better than most. What tips do you give young upandcomers for coping with fame?
A: Well, with the young performers, it's very difficult. Because the minute they hit it big, it's worldwide and instant. And they don't have the time to adjust to the fame, and before they have taken a breath, they are performing in huge stadiums. I have to say the young performers I've worked with - Lady Gaga, Carrie Underwood, John Mayer - are very talented and focused.
That's what it is about as an artist, concentrating on your art and not all the other things that come along when you get famous. I remember Lenny Bruce's manager saying to me after Lenny died that he "sinned against his talent," and I always remembered that phrase.
Q: What makes a good singer - is there some special something you look for?
A: I love a singer that is honest and I have to say, although it was absolutely tragic that we lost her, Amy Winehouse was one of the most honest performers I have ever heard. She was a true jazz singer and a singer of rare talent.
Q: What's the key to coping with touring when you're older?
A: There was a time when I would do 200 dates a year. But these days, I only tour a few days each month. I don't have much entourage and I have a magnificent jazz quartet that works with me, so it keeps things very spontaneous on stage, which I like.
Q: Any thought of retirement?
A: I get asked if I plan to retire. And I say, "Retire to what? I'm doing what I love most right now."
Q: What young vocalists specializing in the American songbook impress you?
A: Well, I love k.d. lang. As far as I am concerned, she is on the same level as Judy Garland and Ella Fitzgerald. I think it's fantastic that artists such as Diana Krall and Michael Bubl脙漏 are doing so well and performing the great American songbook.
Q: Is there one thing you wish you had done differently with your career and/or life?
A: There are always small regrets. But you never know if you did one thing differently, how that would impact something else that happened to you. So I tend to look forward and stay positive and not dwell on past mistakes.
Q: What's the one showbiz rule that has always stood you in good stead?
A: Be prepared.
