No one can accuse
John Bunch
of having a short career; born on December 1, 1921, the veteran pianist was 81 when he recorded
Tony's Tunes
for
Chiaroscuro
on May 12, 2003. What's the secret to
Bunch
's success? In addition to having impeccable chops and an inherent sense of swing and melody,
is smart enough to realize that a musician needs to be true to himself. All these years,
has been a
swing
-oriented pianist along the lines of
Teddy Wilson
and
Nat King Cole
; that's his turf, and he has excelled by sticking with what he does best. This CD is called
because all 14 of the songs are ones that
played with
Tony Bennett
in the '60s, when he was the singer's music director -- familiar gems that range from
"Street of Dreams"
Harold Arlen
's
"I've Got the World on a String"
to
Neal Hefti
"Girl Talk."
is a tribute to
Bennett
, but it's a tribute on
's own pianistic terms; there are no vocals at all, and
maintains an improviser's mindset whether he is interpreting
"Chicago"
(that toddlin' town!) or
"Put On a Happy Face."
When
president
Hank O'Neal
(who produced this release) first came up with the idea for
, he seemed to envision an album of unaccompanied solo piano. But
ended up being a trio session -- not a traditional piano trio (piano, bass, and drums), but a drummer-less trio uniting
with frequent companions
Bucky Pizzarelli
(guitar) and
Jay Leonhart
(bass). That piano/guitar/bass format is, of course, the same format that
the Nat King Cole Trio
favored in the '30s and '40s, and it's a format that works pleasingly well for
throughout this fine CD. ~ Alex Henderson