Tony Bennett swings into the New Year
Legendary crooner Tony Bennett , who's been out supporting his new holiday album over the last few months, will continue to traverse the US well into next year.
The 82-year-old performer has booked a handful of dates stretching from a Jan. 2 gig in Norman, OK, to a May 10 show in Prior Lake, MN. In between, he'll stop by multiple cities in Connecticut and California, and play the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. Details are listed below.
In October, the iconic singer released his first holiday recording in 40 years: "Tony Bennett: A Swingin' Christmas featuring The Count Basie Big Band." The set features 11 yuletide classics including "I'll Be Home for Christmas," "Winter Wonderland" and "Santa Claus is Coming to Town," and introduces Bennett's youngest daughter, Antonia, on the duet "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm."
The album was recorded from the stage of Englewood, NJ's Bergen PAC, which is connected to Bennett Studios via fiber-optic cable. The setup allowed Bennett and the Count Basie Big Band to capture the energy of a live performance.
"We tried to be as spontaneous as possible so the album has a life to it," Bennett explained in his bio. "It doesn't sound like something manufactured or too perfect. It's just real."
The "Swingin' Christmas" sessions were also captured on film for two deluxe, double-disc versions of the set. Several tracks from the record, which topped Billboard's jazz chart, are streaming at Bennett's MySpace page.
The holiday album follows last year's "Tony Bennett Sings the Ultimate American Songbook, Vol. 1," which has the crooner putting his characteristic touch on 20th Century American classics that he recorded from the '50s through the '90s.
Bennett is one of a handful of artists to have charted new albums in every decade since the '50s, according to his bio. The 15-time Grammy winner has sold more than 50 million records during his career and scored accolades including the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, a Kennedy Center honor and the United Nations' Humanitarian Award.
The singer/author is also a dedicated painter who has exhibited his work in galleries around the world. Earlier this month, it was announced that Bennett's painting of Duke Ellington has been accepted into the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery. It will be his third painting to be included in Smithsonian collections.
January 2009
2 - Norman, OK - Riverwind Casino
3 - Thackerville, OK - Winstar Casino
16 - Danville, KY - Norton Center for the Arts
February 2009
20 - Uncasville, CT - Mohegan Sun Resort & Casino
21 - Wallingford, CT - Chevrolet Theatre
March 2009
3 - Long Beach, CA - Terrace Theatre
5 - Santa Ynez, CA - Chumash Casino
6 - Rancho Mirage, CA - Agua Caliente Casino
May 2009
1 - New Orleans, LA - New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
10 - Prior Lake, MN - Mystic Lake Casino Hotel
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