The Silver Lining: The Songs of Jerome Kern

by Tony Bennett, Bill Charlap

Overview

The Silver Lining: The Songs of Jerome Kern functions as something of an answer to its predecessor, Cheek to Cheek. That 2014 duet album with Lady Gaga was suitably brassy and snazzy, relying on well-loved standards and pizzazz -- the kind of thing designed to stoke nostalgia vibes -- but The Silver Lining is a purer jazz record, an intimate songbook collaboration with pianist Bill Charlap; the difference can be heard simply in comparing the versions of "I Won't Dance" that pop up on the two albums -- the Gaga swings boldly, the Charlap rendition carries a wry resignation. Songbooks have been a standard item for Bennett throughout the years but if The Silver Lining recalls any specific album in the vocalist's discography, it's The Tony Bennett/Bill Evans Album, a record released in 1975 when Bennett dropped off the major-label radar and his name was perhaps as well-known to record buyers as that of Evans. While there may be a slight wattage differential between Bennett and Charlap, the difference is due to scale: Bennett is a household name; Charlap is a star among modern mainstream jazz fans. Accordingly, Bennett treats the pianist as an equal, giving him plenty of room to spin out long, liquid solos, passages that seem to glide out imperceptibly from his understated support. Often, The Silver Lining features little more than just the singer and the pianist -- when they're augmented by other musicians, it's just bass and drums, offering a bit of rhythm and color -- and this sparseness never seems austere due to the inherent warmth of the musicians' easy interplay, not to mention their individual voices. Both aspects are subtly showcased on The Silver Lining, and it's that delicate dance, where Bennett and Charlap enjoy playing together and apart, that makes this so charming. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	09/25/2015
Label:	Columbia / Columbia Records / Sony Music
UPC:	0888751457423
Rank:	53236

Tracks

1. All the Things You Are
2. Pick Yourself Up
3. The Last Time I Saw Paris
4. I Won't Dance
5. Long Ago and Far Away
6. Dearly Beloved
7. The Song Is You
8. The They Didn't Believe Me
9. I'm Old Fashioned
10. The Way You Look Tonight
11. Yesterdays
12. Make Believe
13. Nobody Else But Me
14. Look for the Silver Lining

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Tony Bennett   Primary Artist
Bill Charlap   Primary Artist,Piano
Bill Charlap Trio   Featured Artist
Kenny Washington   Drums
Renee Rosnes   Piano,Featured Artist
Peter Washington   Bass

Technical Credits

Ira Gershwin   Composer
Johnny Mercer   Composer
Mark Wilder   Mastering
Otto Harbach   Composer
Buddy DeSylva   Composer
Dae Bennett   Mixing,Editing,Producer
Danny Bennett   Executive Producer
Taylor Diglio   Design
Bill Charlap   Arranger,Producer
Jimmy McHugh   Composer
Dorothy Fields   Composer
Oscar Hammerstein II   Composer
Sam Erickson   Photography
Herbert Reynolds   Composer
Jill Dell Abate   Contractor,Production Manager
Josh Cheuse   Art Direction
Alessandro Perotta   Assistant Engineer
Timothy Marchiafava   Assistant Engineer
Kelsey Bennett   Photography
Jerome Kern   Composer
Tony Bennett   Arranger