T. Bennett & Diana Krall - Love Is Here to Stay

Tony Bennett & Diana Krall

On Gershwin Duets Album 'Love Is Here to Stay' & Their Mutual Admiration.. For Danny Bennett, hearing his famous dad Tony sing the tunes of George and Ira Gershwin has been a lifelong perk..

by: Ron Hart

"The great American Songbook was obviously standard fare in my household growing up and the Gershwins were invariably at the top of the Bennett family playlist," Bennett, who is also president and CEO of Verve Label Group, proudly shares. "I can recall many nights my brother and I would sit at the top of our basement stairs, where we had a studio, and listen to the live strains of Tony jamming with the likes of Stan Getz, Bobby Hackett, Dizzy Gillespie and Ella Fitzgerald. So now that I'm the keeper of the flame for many of those artists, it is an honor and a privilege beyond my wildest dreams."

The younger Bennett has been overlooking his father's career as his manager since 1979. But this year he has the distinct honor of releasing a Tony Bennett album on the very label once inhabited by those aforementioned jazz greats with Love Is Here to Stay, the long-awaited duets album between Tony and renowned jazz leader Diana Krall. The pair first performed together at the Montreal Jazz Festival in 1999 when Tony asked Diana to come play piano for his performance on the Gershwin favorite "They Can't Take That Away From Me" (their updated rendition is a highlight of this new LP); since then, they've recorded together on albums like 2001's Playin' With My Friends and 2006's Duets: An American Classic.

But this 12-track set marks the duo's first full-length collaboration, one that both artists have tried to coalesce for more than a decade. Produced by Dae Bennett and Bill Charlap featuring the acclaimed Bill Charlap Trio on backup, Love Is Here to Stay is a revelation. At 92, Bennett hasn't lost an ounce of power in his voice (he's essentially a wizard at this point) and Krall continues to prove why she is the measuring stick for jazz vocals in the modern age, complementing her partner organically on evergreen Gershwin standards such as "S'Wonderful," "I Got Rhythm" and "I've Got A Crush On You."

On Wednesday (Sept. 12) night, a concert was held at the prestigious Rainbow Room in Rockefeller Center to celebrate the release of Love Is Here to Stay. And an amazing thing happened: Shortly after Bennett and Krall wrapped up performing their show-closing version of "Fascinating Rhythm" a song Bennett kicked off his career with in 1949 under the pseudonym Joe Bari an adjudicator for the Guinness Book of World Records joined them onstage to verify Bennett as the title holder for "the longest time between the release of an original recording and a re-recording of the same single by the same artist" with an incredible 68 years, 342 days as of Aug. 3, 2018. It was a perfect way to kick off the campaign for this very special album, one that has the potential to unite six generations of music lovers -- a feat of rarified air, no doubt.

Billboard had the opportunity to catch a few moments with both Krall and Bennett to discuss their plans to ensure the great legacy of the Gershwins is here to stay.

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