Ravinia 2019, Issue 2, Week 3

8:30 PM FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2019 PAVILION I LEFT MY HEART TOUR TONY BENNETT ANTONIA BENNETT TONY BENNETT Born in Queens, NY, in 1926, Tony Bennett began to cultivate his passion for music at the High School of Industrial Arts in Manhattan. As a boy he was greatly influenced by the vocals of Bing Crosby and Nat “King” Cole, helping define his instantly recognizable singing style. Bennett sang whenever he could: while waiting tables as a teenager, with military bands when he was in the service, and then at the American Theatre Wing School. He began to sing at night- clubs in 1946, his big break coming three years later when Bob Hope checked out his act and approached him after the show with an invita- tion to sing with him at the Paramount. Dozens of gold and platinum albums and 17 Grammy Awards later, Bennett is one of a handful of artists to have new albums make the charts in every decade since the 1950s. His 2011 record- ing Duets II made him the oldest artist ever to have a Billboard number-one album, a distinc- tion he extended with 2014’s Cheek to Cheek with Lady Gaga. A new collaborative collection, Love Is Here to Stay with Diana Krall, was re- leased last fall and marked his seventh consec- utive number-one jazz album. Bennett has been presented some of the highest honors in Amer- ican performance: lifetime achievement awards from the Grammys in 2001 and from ASCAP in 2002, the Kennedy Center Honors in 2005, Billboard ’s Century Award in 2006—when he was also named a NEA Jazz Master and his NBC primetime special Tony Bennett: An American Classic received seven Emmy Awards, making it the most honored program of that year—and the United Nations’ Humanitarian Award in 2007. Bennett is also a passionate painter, and has had works accepted into both the Smithso- nian Museum of American Art and the Smith- sonian’s National Portrait Gallery. His oil paint- ing Ravinia: Music Under the Stars is displayed in the lobby of Ravinia’s Dining Pavilion. Tony Bennett gave his first performance at Ravinia in 1984, and tonight marks his 32nd season at the festival and 40th performance. ANTONIA BENNETT Even before training at the Berklee School of Music, live performance was a part of Antonia Bennett’s life. Since age 4 she has serenaded au- diences in opera houses, casinos, jazz clubs, and amphitheaters, performing with and for such luminaries as Count Basie, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Gene Kelly, Rosemary Clooney, Les Paul, and Ella Fitzgerald. Taking a page from her father (Tony Bennett)’s book, Antonia sought to become a complete entertainer through formal dance and acting training at the Strasburg In- stitute. She also similarly embraces the timeless jazz standards and the American Songbook, adding a modern, nuanced style to appeal to au- diences of her generation. Bennett explains: “I take each of the songs that I do as a story, with a beginning, middle and end—like a monologue—and I try to do my best to tell that story. The way I grew up, if you were going to take a song that was done by many of the great artists, you should bring a piece of yourself into it.” On her 2010 debut recording, Natural , she did just that, setting her renditions of “I Wish I Were in Love Again,” “I Fall to Pieces,” “Love Is a Battlefield,” “Soon,” “Putting on the Ritz,” and “The Thrill Is Gone.” She has also appeared on Tony’s A Swingin’ Christmas , singing a duet on “I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm,” and most recently she assembled a trio to record Embrace Me , which is dedicated to further American Songbook hits such as “Embraceable You” and “The Man I Love.” Bennett has played venues of all sizes around the world, including Radio City Music Hall, Hollywood Bowl, Umbria Jazz Festival, Newport Jazz Festival, The Greek Theatre, Royal Albert Hall, and Caesars Palace. She has also performed at Ravinia several times with her father, as she frequently does for his appearances around the world. RAVINIA MAGAZINE | JUNE 17 – JUNE 23, 2019 102