Tony Bennett & K.D. Lang's 'Wonderful World'

NEW YORK (NY Jazz magazine) - The night belonged to Tony Bennett.On Wednesday, the 76-year-old singer was standing on his favorite stage - Carnegie Hall, where he'd performed a near-flawless set from his giant songbook.

And he was completely at ease.
"I want to do something for you," he said as if we were all in his living room. He asked the sound jockey to switch off all amplification, then - all lungs and heart - sang, unmiked. The song that bounced off the back wall of the famous hall was "Fly Me to the Moon."

Anybody who's ever seen Bennett in concert has witnessed this vocal feat, but with Carnegie Hall's acoustics the moment had the gritty perfection of Minnesota Fats sinking the eight-ball on a three-rail bank-shot.

Gritty? Yeah, gritty. Bennett did it all at this concert, the cornerstone of the fledgling Verizon Music Festival. He sang "Ol' Devil Moon" in his trademark whisper, belted Billy Joel's "New York State of Mind" and made whoopee with k.d. lang, whom he introduced, memorably, saying, "Next to Judy Garland, k.d. is my favorite."

You understood why when the pair sang a mini-set of Louis Armstrong songs, featured on their upcoming tribute album. They were positively electric on "Exactly Like You." Bennett even got a big laugh out of lang when he looked deeply into her eyes and naughtily crooned, "No one does those love scenes exactly like you."

Not surprisingly, the best of the Satchmo tribute was his classic "What a Wonderful World." Here Bennett took advantage of his age and brought the reflective lyrics to life. As the song faded, Bennett ad-libbed, "Yeah, Pops, you were right."
And Bennett was totally on. He knew it, lang knew it - and, most important, the audience knew it.

By the final curtain, the usually sedate Carnegie crowd gave up a lengthy standing ovation that brought Bennett back for five curtain calls and two encores.

Long after the music stopped, fans were chanting "TO-NY, TO-NY, TO-NY."

Not bad for an old-timer!