Cheek to Cheek [LP]

Cheek to Cheek [LP]

Cheek to Cheek [LP]

Cheek to Cheek [LP]

Vinyl LP(Long Playing Record)

$29.99 
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Overview

Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett sang before 2014's Cheek to Cheek -- she popped up on his 2011 collection Duets II -- so this standards album isn't exactly out of the blue. Furthermore, the two aren't such an odd pair. Bennett naturally has a long track record not just in regards to the Great American Songbook, but in presenting it to modern audiences, freshening it up for an MTV Unplugged in 1994 and cutting a full album with k.d. lang in 2002, while Gaga is grounded in music theater and cabaret, a background that is perhaps too apparent on Cheek to Cheek even when it serves her well. She has the chops to sing these warhorses but she sometimes seems unsure of her skills, relying on sheer power when she'd be better off easing into a lyric. Gaga also is occasionally betrayed by her taste for camp -- it's fetching when she's re-creating the splendor of 1976 within the album art but when she begins throwing out flirty asides on "Goody Goody" ("I'm no goodie, I'm a baddie"), she slips on the thin ice she's skating upon. Comparatively, Bennett takes things perhaps a shade too casually, relying on charm as much as skill. This isn't entirely a bad thing. His ease provides a welcome tonic to Gaga's eager glee club theatrics and there are some sparks that arise from this contrast. Also, Cheek to Cheek benefits from sharp arrangements and production that draw upon anything from boisterous, full-bore big bands to swinging, intimate cabaret. Such variety helps spice up a pretty predictable set of songs -- it's a familiar parade of Porter, Berlin, Ellington, Kern, with Cy Coleman & Carolyn Leigh's "Firefly" being the least-familiar tune (although Bennett has recorded it numerous times since the late '50s) -- but Cheek to Cheek is a record where the music and even the songs take a backseat to the personalities. Gaga and Bennett intended to put on a razzle-dazzle show here and that's exactly what they did. Whether you like it or not depends entirely on how much you dig the way they swing. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date: 10/07/2014
Label: Interscope / Polydor
UPC: 0602537988976
Rank: 1779

Tracks

  1. Anything Goes
  2. Cheek To Cheek
  3. Nature Boy
  4. I Can't Give You Anything But Love
  5. I Won't Dance
  6. Firefly
  7. Lush Life
  8. Sophisticated Lady
  9. Let's Face the Music and Dance
  10. But Beautiful
  11. It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Tony Bennett   Primary Artist,Soloist
Lady Gaga   Primary Artist,Soloist
Richard Locker   Celli
Jeanne LeBlanc   Celli
Bob Millikan   Trumpet
Martha Mooke   Viola
Paul Francis   Drums
Keith O'Quinn   Trombone (Tenor)
Steve Kroon   Percussion
Andy Snitzer   Sax (Tenor)
Bob Carlisle   French Horn
Stephanie Cummins   Celli
Paul Horn   Flute,Soloist
Joe Lovano   Soloist,Sax (Tenor)
Harold Jones   Drums
Lee Musiker   Music Direction
George Flynn   Trombone (Bass)
Gray Sargent   Guitar
Sarah Adams   Viola
Marshall Wood   Bass
Yuri Vodovoz   Violin
Mike Renzi   Piano,Music Direction
Tom Ranier   Piano
Diane Barere   Celli
Dave Mann   Sax (Tenor)
Sean Carney   Violin
George Rabbai   Soloist,Trumpet
Lawrence Feldman   Sax (Alto)
Xiao-Dong Wang   Violin
Nancy McAlhaney   Violin
Ronald Janelli   Sax (Baritone)
Tony Kadleck   Trumpet
Barbara Allen   Harp
Susan Jolles   Harp
Lou Marini   Sax (Alto)
Ann Leathers   Violin
Karen Karlsrud   Violin
Brian Newman   Trumpet
Theo Primis   French Horn
Elena Barere   Violin
Larry Farrell   Trombone (Tenor)
Stewart Rose   French Horn
John Owens   Trumpet
Jorge Calandrelli   Conductor
Pavel Vinnitsky   Clarinet
Pamela Sklar   Flute
Katherine Anderson   Viola
Nancy Billman   French Horn
Sebu Sirinian   Violin
Scott Ritchie   Bass
Mike Davis   Trombone (Tenor)
Katherine Fink   Flute
Diane Lesser   Oboe,Horn (English)
Robert Zubrycki   Violin
Vincent Lionti   Viola
Laura McGinnis   Violin
Nancy Wu   Violin
Laura Frautschi   Violin
Alex Sharpe   Violin
Todd Low   Viola
Jorge Avila   Violin
Lisa Tipton   Violin
Una Tone   Violin
Eric Wyrick   Violin
Bud Burridge   Trumpet
Catherine Sim   Violin
Alissa Smith   Viola
Yoon Kwon   Violin
Saeunn Þorsteinsdottir   Celli
Alex Smith   Piano
Mike Atkinson   French Horn
Ellen Westermann   Celli
Steve Kortyka   Saxophone
Barbara Danilow   Violin
Kimberly Foster Wallace   Viola
Kristina Musser Gitterman   Violin
Laura Bald   Violin
Sanguen Han   Violin

Technical Credits

Frank Loesser   Composer
Burton Lane   Composer
Jerome Kern   Composer
Sonny Bono   Composer
Eden Ahbez   Composer
Irving Mills   Composer
Irving Berlin   Composer
Cole Porter   Composer
Duke Ellington   Composer
Alan Jay Lerner   Composer
Lee Musiker   Vocal Arrangement,Rhythm Arrangements
Cy Coleman   Composer
Greg Calbi   Mastering
George Gershwin   Composer
Ira Gershwin   Composer
Lorenz Hart   Composer
Marilyn Bergman   Composer
Johnny Mercer   Composer
James Van Heusen   Composer
Marion Evans   Arranger,Brass Arrangement
Billy Strayhorn   Composer
Michel Legrand   Composer
Otto Harbach   Composer
Mitchell Parish   Composer
Alan Bergman   Composer
Dae Bennett   Mixing,Engineer,Producer
Danny Bennett   Executive Producer
Dave Russell   Engineer
Sheldon Yellowhair   Assistant Engineer
Mike Bauer   Assistant Engineer
Darren Moore   Assistant Engineer
Jimmy McHugh   Composer
Carolyn Leigh   Composer
Dorothy Fields   Composer
Oscar Hammerstein II   Composer
Richard Rodgers   Composer
Matty Malneck   Composer
Brian Newman   Arranger
Sunny Skylar   Composer
Jorge Calandrelli   Orchestration
Ivy Skoff   Coordination
Johnny Burke   Composer
Jo Ann Kane   Music Copyist
Steve Klein   Photography
Steven Klein   Photography
Jill Dell'Abate   Contractor,Production Manager
Larry Abel   Music Copyist
Akihiro Nishimura   Assistant Engineer
Alessandro Perrotta   Pro-Tools
Alex Smith   Arranger
Timothy Marchiafava   Assistant Engineer
Steve Kortyka   Arranger
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