Home Read Classic Box Set Review: Tony Bennett | Complete Improv Recordings

Classic Box Set Review: Tony Bennett | Complete Improv Recordings

The jazz crooner collects songs cut for his own short-lived label in the mid-’70s.

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This came out in 2004 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):

 


There are two new Tony Bennett boxes this year: Columbia’s hit-filled retrospective Fifty Years for the public and casual fans, and this more focused set for the buffs, collectors and completists.

Complete Improv Recordings collects material from five albums Tony recorded for his own short-lived label in the mid-’70s. These tracks fall into four categories: Orchestral ballads like As Time Goes By; small-combo jazz standards like The Lady is a Tramp; snappy live recordings with an all-star band including pianist Marian McPartland and guitarist Charlie Byrd; and best of all, solo duets with singular pianist Bill Evans. No, you won’t find most of his hits here — though he does offer a brief live rendition of I Left My Heart in San Francisco. But you will find some of his most personal albums. And four albums that make Rod Stewart look like the piker he is.

DISCS: Four.

TRACKS: 76.

YEARS COVERED: 1973 – ’77.

NEW STUFF: Seven unissued takes and a few singles-only tunes.

EYE CANDY: A 56-page book with extensive liner notes.

DAMAGE: $50.