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- VIEW POINTS, Page 101MUSICThe Bells Ring Now, Tony
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- By Jay Cocks
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- Here in one neat -- not to say lovely -- package is the
- essence of why CD boxed sets are a blessing. FORTY YEARS: THE
- ARTISTRY OF TONY BENNETT (Columbia/Legacy) is a four-disc
- retrospective of one of the world's best song stylists. Not an
- act of autohagiography, like the current Barbra Streisand set,
- this 87-tune panorama showcases a singer who is as gracious with
- a melody as he is generous with his collaborators. Sinatra may
- supply more drama, Cole may have been cooler, but no one can get
- to the quick of a lyric with the easy emotion of Bennett. The
- selections range from the pop-heavy The Boulevard of Broken
- Dreams (1950) through some surprises (a swinging, ebullient 1967
- version of Al Jolson's Keep Smiling at Trouble) to 1989's high
- and handsome When Do the Bells Ring for Me. If the material is
- lacking, as in Song from "The Oscar," Bennett can raise it with
- a combination of precise technique and personal commitment. If
- the song is solid, he'll enhance it with openhearted skill. The
- touchstone of his gift is simplicity, so then let it be said,
- simply, this Forty Years sampling is glorious.
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