Deep purple and blue lights illuminate the stage and light jazz music plays at New Brunswick’s State Theatre New Jersey this Sunday, October 20, 2019 while music lovers wait for a highly anticipated live performance by the legendary American singer, Tony Bennett.
A quartet of musicians — Harold Jones on drums, Tim Ray on piano, Marshall Wood on bass, and Gray Sargent on electric guitar — takes the stage. As the band vamps, Sargent’s jazz guitar softly and rhythmically comps as Ray tickles the ivories and Wood’s bass slides to Jones’ tasty drumming.
The audience enjoys the instrumental performance which precedes the introduction of tonight’s opening act — Antonia Bennett — daughter of Tony Bennett.
Starting off with her interpretation of “That Old Black Magic,” Antonia sings, “That old black magic has me in its spell/That old black magic that you weave so well,” her smooth and lyrical voice contrasting nicely with the rhythmic movement of the jazz musicians.
Following warm applause, Antonia replies, “Thank you! I really feel I have the best job in the world. I travel with my dad and I sit in the wings, and he always amazes me,” before stating, “Dad, this song is for you.”
Her voice sounding powerful and dynamic, Antonia launches into “You’re a Lucky Guy.” Singing, “You’re a lucky guy when you consider/The highest bidder can’t buy/The gleam in your eyes,” Antonia is followed by a bright and playful Tim Ray piano solo before Gray Sargent adds his jazzy voice with his hollow-body guitar.
Announcing, “Here’s one of my favorite Gershwin songs,” Antonia performs “Someone to Watch Over Me.” Her vocal is light and lyrical on this heartfelt performance, and she gracefully gives each of the instrumentalists time to shine in the spotlight: Ray plays the piano with skill and feeling, Sargent echoes with a lyrical solo, Jones taps out a rhythm with his bass, and Wood keeps the tempo with his brushes.
For her final number, Antonia concludes with “From This Moment On,” the rhythmic arrangement moving in time to her legato vocal.
Following avid applause, the audience hears the pre-recorded voice of Frank Sinatra announcing, “The greatest singer in the world — Mr. Tony Bennett!”
The house lights shine so Mr. Bennett can see the standing ovation he receives while making his entrance. Standing in the center of the stage, Bennett begins his set with “Watch What Happens,” his voice, at age 93, sounding strong, warm, and resonant.
The audience cheers for Bennett and he follows up with “They All Laughed” before launching into “This is All I Ask.” Singing with nuance and communicating its story through his expert phrasing and interpretation, Bennett aptly ends with the lyric, “Let the music play/As long as there’s a song to sing/I will stay younger than spring.” It is here that several audience members spontaneously shout out “Yeah!” after hearing him sing such fitting words.
Standing in the crook of the piano, Bennett puts his spin on Gershwin’s “I Got Rhythm,” emoting with power on this timeless classic.
After giving credit to guitarist Sargent and drummer Jones who are featured on inspired solos, Bennett scat sings at the end of the number, much to the delight of the crowd which responds with enthusiastic cheers and applause.
Moving on to “Solitude,” Bennett sings, “In my solitude you haunt me/With dreadful ease of days gone by/In my solitude you taunt me/With memories that never die.”
Knowing precisely when to add an embellishment and when to let the silence between the notes fill the void between phrases, this master vocalist shows what only a seasoned performer can do with a song. Bluesy and jazzy in terms of its overall arrangement, Bennett poignantly performs with his hands folded while passionately crooning the lyric, “In my solitude, I’m praying.”
Segueing into “I’m Old Fashioned,” the sound of each instrument is clearly discerned as Bennett phrases his vocal in between the notes of the band.
After Bennett sings, “My heart’s just average/She does not agree/It amazes me/It simply amazes me,” Wood concludes the arrangement by playing his bass with his bow to great audience applause.
Audience members swing to the syncopation of “Steppin’ Out With My Baby,” as Wood’s bass imitates Bennett’s vocal. The instruments talk to each another, as well as to Bennett, who smiles as he joyfully croons on this swinging classic.
Bowing graciously to Sargent as he comes downstage to play the guitar intro to “But Beautiful,” Bennett starts by scatting the introduction to this number he recorded with Lady Gaga.
Following the song’s “Love is funny, or it’s sad/Or it’s quiet, or it’s mad” lyric, Sargent tastefully picks out the melody on his guitar as Tony blows a kiss to the audience. Bending his strings while playing a twangy jazz guitar solo softly and sweetly, Jones’ cymbals roll prior to bringing Tony’s vocal back into the lush mix of guitar, bass, and drums played with brushes before Jones ends the song by gently playing with mallets on his cymbals.
A highlight of tonight’s concert is Bennett’s interpretation of Gershwin’s “Our Love Is Here to Stay.” As he sings the opening verse, “The more I read the papers/The less I comprehend/The world and all its capers/And how it all will end,” his interpretation provides listeners with a contemporary understanding of the lyric before he impresses the crowd with a long, long, long note on the coda which elicits excited cheers and applause.
Standing center stage, Bennett and Sargent open “The Way You Look Tonight.” With its rubato vocal and guitar intro, the arrangement shifts into an uptempo instrumental played by the entire band which is highlighted by a nifty Tim Ray piano solo and a sweet swinging guitar solo courtesy of Gray Sargent.
A medley of Tony Bennett classics — “Because of You,” “Cold, Cold Heart,” and “Who Can I Turn To” — elicits cheers, and the crowd happily claps in rhythm to a swinging version of “Just in Time.”
Bennett and Co. follow up with an audience favorite — a bluesy and melancholy rendition of “Boulevard of Broken Dreams.” Starting with Marshall Wood who plays his bass low and sad, the arrangement builds to a dramatic conclusion where Bennett powerfully sings, “But gigolo and gigolette/Still sing a song and dance along/The boulevard of broken dreams!”
The crowd cheers, and Bennett responds with his interpretation of “The Good Life,” where heads bop to the easy groove and Tim Ray performs a jazzy piano solo.
Moving on to a more modern composition, Bennett performs the James Ingram and Patti Austin number, “How Do You Keep the Music Playing?” His band expertly following his lead, the song brings tears to the eyes of listeners as he croons, “How do you keep the music playing?/How do you make it last?/How do you keep the song from fading/Too fast?”
As he vocalizes at the end, the crowd stands for Bennett’s dynamic performance.
Bennett follows up with “The Shadow of Your Smile,” where a bossa nova rhythm permeates the arrangement and Sargent plays a lyrical jazz guitar solo. Then, Bennett and the band move on to a jazzy upbeat version of “One for My Baby” which is rewarded with avid cheers from the crowd.
Dramatic lighting enhances Bennett’s rendition of Stevie Wonder’s “For Once in My Life” where Bennett turns to the musicians so he can direct the big ending which brings hoots and hollers from the audience.
The crowd cheers when they recognize the opening strains of Bennett’s signature song, “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.”
Singing the composition as only he can, Bennett croons, “To be where little cable cars climb halfway to the stars/The morning fog may chill the air, I don’t care,” painting a picture with his timeless and masterful performance.
When the audience rises to show its appreciation, Bennett replies saying, “Thanks — this was one of the best! I’ll never forget it — you’re beautiful. Thanks for being such a good audience.”
For a first encore, Bennett entertains the crowd with “Who Cares,” where Gray Sargent plays a bebop-inspired guitar solo and Tim Ray performs a cascading piano solo.
Another highlight of the evening follows with Bennett’s encore performance of “Smile.” After inspiring a collective “Ah” from the audience the instant they recognize the tune, Bennett sings, “If you smile through your fear and sorrow/Smile and maybe tomorrow/You’ll see the sun come shining through/For you.”
A fan yells out “Yeah!” and another shouts, “Sing it, Tony!” as brushes play on drums on this slow heartfelt rendition which is filled with hope. Sargent delivers a masterful jazz guitar solo which Tony calls “Perfect!” before Bennett knocks the audience’s socks off with the uplifting “You’ll find that life is still worthwhile/If you just smile” ending.
The crowd cheers and Bennett and Co. segue into “When You’re Smiling.” The audience happily claps along to the rhythm and joins in singing on the “When you’re smilin’, when you’re smilin’/The whole world smiles with you” lyric.
For his final encore, Bennett’s signature vocal style is on full display as he delivers his interpretation of “Fly Me to the Moon.” With just his voice and a lone guitar, Bennett has the audience happily singing along on the “Fly me to the moon/And let me play among the stars/Let me see what spring is like on/Jupiter and Mars” lyric.
Standing alone in the spotlight, audience members rise for Bennett who responds by delivering a double thumbs-up to the crowd before saluting them and giving all present a warm wave goodbye.
As audience members make their way out of the State Theatre auditorium, we take a moment to chat with several music lovers who share their opinions on Tony Bennett’s performance tonight.
Comments Letticia from Annandale, “This was my first time seeing Tony Bennett, and he was fabulous!” Noting, “You just don’t hear songs like that anymore,” Letticia acknowledges, “He really touched my heart.”
Joan from Warren remarks, “I can’t believe that at 93 years old he can still stand and sing for an entire concert!” before adding, “This is the music of my era, so seeing him here tonight at the State Theatre was wonderful.”
Caroline from Teaneck agrees explaining, “Every song he sang had a story to it, and I felt that his entire selection of songs told a story themselves within the program. His mastery of this body of work is undeniable — I’m so glad I had the chance to experience this performance, and I think his age made the whole presentation an even richer musical experience!”
Erna from Bridgewater calls Tony Bennett “Really great!” before adding, “He did not disappoint!” Recalling, “I saw him before in Connecticut and it was so wonderful,” Erna reveals, “I was so excited to get to see him here again at the State Theatre tonight.”
Claudia from Frenchtown acknowledges, “This is my first time seeing Tony Bennett in person. I saw him on television with Lady Gaga and I just had to see him live.”
Continuing, “I really enjoyed ‘Smile’ so much!” Claudia remarks, “The pianist and guitarist were stellar, and I couldn’t believe Tony Bennett’s style — the way he punctuates and accentuates the rhythms,” before concluding, “And he performed all of those songs from memory — he is just amazing!”
Nicholas from Lawrenceville comments, “I saw Tony Bennett with kd lang a number of years ago at the PNC Arts Center, and he is still fantastic! His phrasing and breath control are incredible — you can’t hear that man take a breath!” before concluding, “He’s totally got ‘it’ — he is The Voice!”
Mary Ann from Long Hill Twp. exclaims, “Tony Bennett was super, super, super!” Recalling, “I actually met him once in person at the Metropolitan Museum,” Mary Ann reveals, “He was so gracious when he spoke to me,” before declaring, “This is my sixth time seeing him!”
Lastly, Mary Ann’s son, Mark from Annandale, reveals, “My mom played all of his great music at home and I’m so grateful. Tony Bennett is my absolute favorite singer of this genre, so I just had to come see him and bring my two girls.”
Continuing, “At 93 years of age, Tony Bennett sounds absolutely amazing,” Mark explains, “The emotion he puts into every vocal performance is unbelievable,” before he concludes with a smile, “This was an evening of utter joy!”
To learn more about Tony Bennett, please go to tonybennett.com. For information on upcoming performances at State Theatre New Jersey — including Blue Note Records 80th Birthday Celebration with James Carter, James Francies, and Kandace Springs on November 6, Béla Fleck and the Flecktones on December 6, and Boyz II Men on February 13, 2020 — please click on stnj.org.
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