BENNETT & BRUBECK Live 1962 White House Recordings Hit #2 on National Jazz Charts

By: BWW News Desk Jun. 06, 2013

Bennett & Brubeck - The White House Sessions - Live 1962, the newly discovered recording of two American jazz masters performing an historic one-time-only concert set, has, according to Soundscan, entered the nation's Jazz charts (Traditional Jazz, Current Jazz and Core Overall Jazz) at #2 (and the Billboard 200 at #74), an unprecedented achievement for the first release of music recorded more than a half century ago.

Excitement for the release of Bennett & Brubeck - The White House Sessions - Live 1962 began building from the moment word first circulated that the long-lost recordings had finally surfaced in the Sony Music vaults. Bennett & Brubeck - The White House Sessions - Live 1962 reached #1 at BN.com (and #10 at Barnes & Noble brick and mortar stores) and #1 on Amazon's Movers & Shakers charts, #2 on the Jazz Music chart and #3 on the Amazon New Releases chart.

One of the world's most beloved live performers, Tony Bennett has some special engagements lined up for 2013. The artist will perform at the Hollywood Bowl on August 2 (the day before his 87th birthday) as well as a concert at New York's Radio City Music Hall on October 11. Tony will make his first concert appearances in China with a two-night run in Shanghai on September 19 and 20, as part of his upcoming tour of Asia.

On Tuesday, May 28, RPM/Columbia/Legacy Recordings released Bennett & Brubeck - The White House Sessions - Live 1962, two musical titans, at the peak of their creative powers and popularity, performing an impromptu set at the White House Seminar American Jazz Concert which resulted in their one and only recording together.

"It's a special moment in our lives. It's a moment you never forget," said Tony Bennett in an interview. "For me, this recording with Dave Brubeck exemplifies what I love best - a live, spontaneous performance - completely unrehearsed and just in the moment. It's a thrill that the master recordings were finally rediscovered after 50 years and I am pleased that this concert event can be shared. Dave Brubeck was a jazz piano genius and we truly enjoyed performing together."

A previously unreleased jewel and perfect introduction to both American jazz and the artistry of two geniuses, Bennett & Brubeck - The White House Sessions - Live 1962 presents, for the first time ever, the complete Tony Bennett and Dave Brubeck performance from the White House Seminar American Jazz Concert, held on August 28, 1962. With the Washington Monument as the evening's backdrop--the show was moved from its original Rose Garden location to the larger Sylvan Theater grounds nearby to accommodate the crowd--the concert was an end-of-summer event thrown by the John F. Kennedy White House for college students who'd been working as interns in the nation's capital.

One of the great lost treasures of American musical history, the Tony Bennett-Dave Brubeck White House Seminar performance came about when the artists--each already on the bill with his own ensemble--agreed to seize the moment with an impromptu set. While the Bennett-Brubeck recording of "That Old Black Magic" had surfaced on the occasional compilation (Brubeck's 1971's out-of-print LP, Summit Sessions, and 2001's Vocal Encounters), the rest of the Bennett and Brubeck performances--an hour's worth of music--were a mythical lost object in the Sony Music Entertainment vaults until finally surfacing through a fortuitous discovery last December, just weeks after Brubeck's passing on December 5, 2012 (one day shy of his 92nd birthday).

1962 was a pivotal time in American cultural and musical history and for the artists on this recording. Just seventeen days before the White House Seminar American Jazz Concert, Tony Bennett had entered the Billboard charts with his signature song, "I Left My Heart In San Francisco," and there is an ebullience in Tony's performances and a palpable excitement of the college-age audience in their recognition of Tony's on-fire success. Dave Brubeck's "Take Five" had become emblematic of jazz itself and, in 1962, Brubeck's band was picked as the best combo in jazz by Down Beat magazine readers and DJs surveyed by Billboard.

In his liner notes to the album, noted jazz historian Ted Gioia observes, "Both had arrived at stardom, but were seemingly stars from different galaxies.

"Yet these two beloved musicians also had much in common. Both had served in World War II, and participated in the Battle of the Bulge. Both were active in the Civil Rights Movement--not long before this recording was made, Brubeck canceled 23 concerts rather than replace his African-American bassist Eugene Wright, and Bennett would soon be marching with Martin Luther King in Montgomery, Alabama. But these two artists were musically simpatico as well. They shared a devotion to the great American songbook, and knew how to straddle the worlds of jazz and popular music without compromises or crass commercialism, yet still reach millions of people, many of whom would never step inside a jazz club or read a copy of Down Beat.

"So what a blessing to have these tracks from the past, a true meeting of musical masters, come to us more than half-century after they were made, but still sounding as fresh and alive as they did to those present back in 1962. The concert that day was held to honor college students who had come to Washington D.C. to work for the summer--in fact, they had met earlier that day with President Kennedy. Historians often use the phrase 'the best and the brightest' to refer to the smart, idealistic people who gravitated to government service in those years, but I would apply those same words to the artists on stage that day. And after hiding out in a dark archive for so many decades, the music of two of the best and brightest to ever interpret the American popular song is shining for us once more."

With a recording career going back to 1951 and "Because of You" and "Cold, Cold Heart," his first two #1 singles, Tony Bennett has created a legacy of music that's been the heartbeat of American pop and jazz music for more than 60 years.

Beginning May 28, ten classic Tony Bennett album catalog titles were made available through Barnes & Noble, in both physical and digital formats, including Bennett Sings Ellington/Hot & Cool, Cloud 7, Tony Bennett - In Person!, Tony Bennett Sings A String of Harold Arlen, I Wanna Be Around, When Lights Are Low, Yesterday I Heard The Rain, If I Ruled The World: Songs For The Jet Set, The Art of Excellence and Bennett/Berlin.

Remaining titles from the Tony Bennett catalog are now available through "disc on demand" on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Combined with the singer's extensive list of digital titles available on iTunes, Tony Bennett's entire catalog is available, in both physical and digital formats, for the first time.

In December 2012, RPM/Columbia/Legacy announced the addition of thirty-seven deep album titles to the online discography of Tony Bennett, making Tony Bennett's entire Columbia Records catalog including his Columbia Records singles, outtakes, rarities and more available online.

Newly remastered and digitized, the Tony Bennett album collection spans the entire career of the great American pop vocalist as documented in the albums and singles he's made for Columbia Records (beginning in 1952 through the present).

In addition to all of Tony's original albums, each with its original jacket design and original sequencing and, in many cases, bonus material, fans have access to newly curated collections -- "Rarities, Outtakes and Other Delights" (2 volumes) and "The Columbia Singles" (6 volumes).

"The Columbia Singles" brings together for the first time all of the singles Bennett recorded for Columbia Records, the label he signed with in 1950. Most of them recorded in the early 1950s, "The Columbia Singles" includes the a-sides and b-sides that were not included on individual albums.

"Rarities, Outtakes and Other Delights" collects rare tracks, previously unreleased outtakes, guest appearances on other artist's albums, soundtrack songs and more beginning with the recently discovered 1946 V-Disc recording of "St. James Infirmary Blues" that "effervescent delight," which was Tony's very first known recording. Nestled among the "Rarities" are two tracks from another fabled concert Bennett gave at the Latin Casino in Philadelphia with the Count Basie Orchestra, which was recorded and never released.

Tony Bennett fans will rejoice at the first digitization of On The Glory Road, a mythic session recorded in June 1962, at the height of his early 1960s career. A lost Tony Bennett masterpiece, On The Glory Road had been recorded, assigned a catalog number and assembled, only to be left on the shelf when Tony's "(I Left My Heart In) San Francisco" (originally the b-side to "Once Upon A Time") became a national hit and a compilation album of the same name was released instead. A smattering of tracks from Glory Road have been released but this allows fans to hear the whole album presented in its originally intended form.

Tony's latest album, the critically-acclaimed Viva Duets is available on iTunes, a one-stop shop for all things Tony Bennett.

Alongside the digital editions of the complete Tony Bennett album collection, iTunes offers ebook and enhanced ebook editions of Tony's memoir "Life Is A Gift" and "The Zen of Bennett," the feature length documentary conceived and created by Danny Bennett, Tony's son and longtime manager.

When Tony Bennett - The Complete Collection was made available in a limited edition box set in 2011, Nate Chinen, reviewing the set for the New York Times (November 23, 2011), observed, "We aren't likely to see a recording career like this again."

Bennett & Brubeck
The White House Sessions - Live 1962

1. Introduction - William B. Williams
2. Take Five
3. Band introduction
4. Nomad
5. Thank You (Dziekuje)
6. Castilian Blues

The Dave Brubeck Quartet
Dave Brubeck, piano; Paul Desmond, alto sax;
Eugene Wright, bass; Joe Morello, drums

7. Introduction - William B. Williams
8. Just In Time (from Bells Are Ringing)
9. Small World (from Gypsy)
10. Make Someone Happy (from Do Re Mi)
11. Rags To Riches
12. One For My Baby (And One More For The Road) (from the RKO film, The Sky's The Limit)
13. (I Left My Heart In) San Francisco

Tony Bennett
with Ralph Sharon, piano; Hal Gaylord, bass;
and Billy Exner, drums

14. Lullaby Of Broadway (from the Warner Bros./Vitaphone film, Gold Diggers Of 1935)

15. Chicago (That Toddlin' Town)
16. That Old Black Magic
17. There Will Never Be Another You (from the 20th Century-Fox film, Iceland)

Tony Bennett
with The Dave Brubeck Trio
Dave Brubeck, piano;
Eugene Wright, bass; Joe Morello, drums

Produced by Teo Macero

Tony Bennett - The Complete Columbia Records Digital Collection
(December 2012 - newly added titles in bold italics)
(May 2013 - Barnes & Noble exclusives)

1. Rarities, vol. 1
2. Rarities, vol. 2
3. The Columbia singles, vol. 1
4. The Columbia singles, vol. 2
5. The Columbia singles, vol. 3
6. The Columbia singles, vol. 4
7. The Columbia singles, vol. 5
8. The Columbia singles, vol. 6
9. Cloud 7 - 2.7.55
10. Tony - 1.14.57
11. The Beat Of My Heart - 12.9.57
12. Long Ago And Far Away - 7.28.58
13. In Person! - 4.27.59
14. Hometown, My Town - 7.13.59
15. To My Wonderful One - 2.15.60
16. Alone Together - 7.11.60
17. A String Of Arlen - 10.24.60
18. Tony Sings For Two - 2.6.61
19. My Heart Sings - 8.7.61
20. Mr. Broadway - 3.19.62
21. On The Glory Road - [6.18.62]
22. I Left My Heart In San Francisco - 6.18.62
23. Tony Bennett At Carnegie Hall - 7.3.62
24. Tony Bennett At Carnegie Hall - 7.3.62
25. I Wanna Be Around - 2.18.63
26. This Is All I Ask - 7.22.63
27. The Many Moods Of Tony - 1.20.64
28. When Lights Are Low - 4.20.64
29. Who Can I Turn To - 11.16.64
30. If I Ruled The World / Songs For The Jet Set - 4.19.65
31. The Movie Song Album - 1.31.66
32. A Time For Love - 8.20.66
33. Tony Makes It Happen - 3.20.67
34. For Once In My Life - 12.6.67
35. Yesterday I Heard The Rain - 7.22.68
36. Snowfall: The Tony Bennett Christmas Album - 11.6.68
37. I've Gotta Be Me - 7.30.69
38. Tony Sings The Great Hits Of Today! - 1.7.70
39. Something - 10.14.70
40. Love Story - 2.10.71
41. Get Happy - 9.22.71
42. Summer Of '42 - 1.12.72
43. With Love - 5.24.72
44. Sunrise, Sunset - 6.22.73
45. The Art Of Excellence - 5.12.86
46. Bennett/Berlin - 11.10.87
47. Astoria - 5.31.90
48. Perfectly Frank - 9.15.92
49. Steppin' Out - 10.5.93
50. MTV Unplugged - 7.27.94
51. Here's To The Ladies - 10.24.95
52. Bennett On Holiday - 2.4.97
53. The Playground - 9.29.98
54. Bennett Sings Ellington - 9.28.99
55. Our Favorite Things - 10.23.01
56. Playin' With My Friends - 11.6.01
57. A Wonderful World (with k.d. lang) - 11.5.02
58. The Art Of Romance - 11.9.04
59. Duets - An American Classic - 10.11.06
60. Duets II - 09.20.11
61. A Swingin' Christmas - 10.14.08
62. Viva Duets - 10.23.12

SOURCE RPM/Columbia Records/Legacy Recordings

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BENNETT & BRUBECK Live 1962 White House Recordings Hit #2 on National Jazz Charts

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