Tony Bennett: Playin' with My Friends: Bennett Sings the Blues : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Santana's "Supernatural" taught the music industry that an old-timer can reconnect with the masses by collaborating with everyone under the sun. Already an icon of cool, Tony Bennett doesn't need a bunch of kids on his records. But for his latest, the veteran crooner teams up with one timeless talent after another for a marathon of serial blues monogamy. Playin' With My Friends is as lighthearted as this sorrowful genre gets: Only his duet with Sheryl Crow on "Good Morning Heartache" truly delivers its lyrics' suffering. What's touching about this album is how far Bennett and guests bend to meet each other. Bonnie Raitt's slide guitar is more recognizable than her surprisingly traditional jazz vocal on "I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues," while Bennett gets as soft as a whisper on "Blue and Sentimental" to flatter 1950s songbird Kay Starr. He puts a wink in his inflection during "Keep the Faith, Baby" to match k.d. lang's revisionist humor, and Billy Joel overdoes the swingin' licks on his own "New York State of Mind" to suit the star. This is a classy, sweet-natured diversion from folks with the chops to make this kind of fluff as comfy as an easy chair.

BARRY WALTERS
(RS 883/884 - December 6, 2001)