Tony Bennett And Diana Krall Celebrate The Gershwins On Their Collaborative New Album

Tony Bennett and Diana Krall celebrate their shared love of the music of George and Ira Gershwin on their new collaborative album, LOVE IS HERE TO STAY, set for a 14th September release on Verve Records.

Tony Bennett, who celebrates his 92nd birthday today, has been friends with Diana Krall for over 20 years. The two toured together in 2000 and recorded duets for two of Bennett's albums ("Duets" and "Playin' With My Friends"), but this marks their first full album project together. LOVE IS HERE TO STAY is out just in time for the 120th Anniversary of George Gershwin's birthday which takes place on 26th September. Both multi-Grammy winning and platinum-selling artists, Bennett is the only artist at the ages of 85 and 88, respectively, to have an album debut at #1 on the Billboard Top 200 and Krall is the only jazz artist to have eight albums debut at #1 on Billboard's Jazz Albums chart.

Danny Bennett, President and CEO of Verve Label Group commented, "When Tony Bennett and Diana Krall sing the music of the Gershwins, it's truly the consummate artistic pairing of singers and songwriting. It's one of those recordings that when you listen to it, you recognize instantly that it had to happen - it was just a matter of getting these two extraordinary performers into a studio and putting the Gershwin songbook in front of them."

LOVE IS HERE TO STAY was recorded with the Grammy award winning Bill Charlap Trio and the stunning result is a subtle, sophisticated and beautifully rendered love letter to The Gershwins' music and their status as one of the premiere songwriters of the American popular standard. It is a masterclass in vocal delivery and phrasing and the command that Bennett and Krall display of the material in both their duets and solo tracks makes it appear effortless, belying the honed skill of the vocalists. The duet tracks include "Love Is Here to Stay", "S'Wonderful," "They Can't Take That Away from Me" and "Fascinating Rhythm," among them. "Fascinating Rhythm" was Tony Bennett's first physical recording, made under his then stage name, Joe Bari, which he revisits as a duet with Krall for this project. Two of the duet tracks were never recorded by either artist prior in their career: "My One and Only," and "I've Got A Crush on You."

Tony Bennett's album, "Tony Bennett Celebrates 90: The Best Is Yet To Come" won a Grammy award this past February and Diana Krall recently won two Juno awards for her last recording, "Turn Up the Quiet," including the prestigious Producer of The Year award. This Fall, the two will appear on several national television shows performing songs from LOVE IS HERE TO STAY including The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Good Morning America, and Live With Kelly and Ryan.

LOVE IS HERE TO STAY was produced by Grammy Award winner Dae Bennett and Bill Charlap with Danny Bennett as Executive Producer. It will be released on CD, vinyl, digital and streaming platforms. The Bill Charlap Trio features Bill Charlap on piano, Peter Washington on bass and Kenny Washington on drums.

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