After bringing a charmed audience to its feet at a recent benefit concert at New York's Avery Fisher Hall, Tony Bennett stood and grinned, his hands on his hips. In his royal blue suit, he was a red cape and 'S' away from striking a classic Superman pose (Defender of American popular song!).| But Bennett has proven to be more than a man of steel. He's a man of mettle. In the past year and a half the world has mourned the passing of Frank Sinatra, Mel Torme and Betty Carter, a veritable who's who of American song. But amid the loss and, for Bennett in particular, personal sorrow, he has managed to survive simply by doing what he does.

Bennett doesn't like the label "comeback," seeing as he never really vanished. Thus, it seems we've made the comeback, returning to a musical treasure who has bridged an unprecedented three generations. He's seventy-three going on forty, full of energy, vitality and an unparalleled productivity. Between performing, recording and painting, Tony Bennett is a busy man. He's also a musical preservationist. His Perfectly Frank (1992) gave props to his best friend, Frank Sinatra. Steppin' Out, his tribute to Fred Astaire, followed the next year. Here's to the Ladies (1995) was a tip to his favorite female singers, and Bennett on Holiday (1997) paid due to Billie Holiday. His latest, Bennett Sings Ellington: Hot & Cool offers up fourteen Duke Ellington gems. In a year that has seen numerous Ellington tributes (he would have turned one hundred back in April), Bennett's inspired collection best captures the range and richness of his friend and mentor, a man being positioned as the most important American musician of the century.

It's been a big year for Ellington. What did he mean to you?

He taught me so much. He was an interesting guy. This year he's being acclaimed as the first official classical composer of the Unites States. On their classical station, the BBC took a whole week and for twenty-four hours a day played nothing but Ellington. He was a great creative person. He was able to paint, he was able to compose, he was able to perform. He was the consummate performer in every aspect of the game. Each year he got better and better. He wrote every kind of mode of music. He actually composed more music than any composer in the history of the world. That's how prolific he was. He wrote every night.

He's been called the first modern composer, as he wrote for specific performers, rather than just instruments.

Yes, he chose certain artists that were really specialists: Johnny Hodges, Harry Carney, Paul Gonsalves. The whole orchestra was just full of all-star musicians. And he knew just how they would sound right. He made sure that they were able to shine in his compositions. He called them his notepad; he sketched with the band. He was asked, "Why do you still have a band?" because he made so much money composing. He said, "Because I need a notepad to try things out and experiment." His whole life that's what he did, experiment.

He seemed to cross the streams of artistic mediums. Do your pursuits interact?

Oh, absolutely. It's funny that you mention that question -- it's so wonderful that you did just now. Because [Ellington] told me, don't do one thing, do two. I made a commitment right from the moment when he told me to do that. I started painting every single day. And by doing that, you never get burned out. Painting is very quiet; it's very different. It's something that requires complete concentration without an audience. I just spent a month in Italy, and I painted the whole month. And it was so wonderful to just paint, and then come back and you can't wait to perform again. You have that nice release. In the meantime, one is teaching the other at all times. It's all about line, form, color, balance. You know, nuance.

Do you frequent Italy to stir up the creative juices?

Well, sixty percent of all the art in the world is in Italy. They're so prolific, and there's no deadlines there. And when it's ready, it's really ready. I saw a man chiseling away outside of the Leonardo da Vinci Museum of Sketching. He was cutting the stone outside the building for the sidewalk. And I found myself watching him for about an hour. And the next day I happened to walk by the street and I saw it all finished. And I realized that stone was going to be there for the next 700 to 1,000 years. They don't think [about] obsolescence. They do things with great care and they don't care how long it takes as long as its absolutely permanent when it's finished.

Do you worry about the future of your musical tradition?

I saw Arthur Miller on Charlie Rose one night, and he said it was such a shame that money has become more important than content and integrity and quality and tradition. The older countries show you right away what their tradition is. The British show you theater. The Italians show you opera. And the French [have] cooking or Impressionism. They show you what they've contributed to the world. And we're blinded right now by how much money we can make. And Miller was saying what a tragedy, because when the empire collapses the only thing we have as credentials is what we've contributed. Well, the only thing we've really, truly invented is jazz. Elongated improvisation. This is our tradition. You have that golden era of Gershwin, Kern, Arlen, Ellington, Waller, performers like Art Tatum, Lester Young, Count Basie. You can't deny it, they're all on record. It's documented. Quality rises to the top. If it's good it's not ever going to sound dated. Louis Armstrong will never sound dated.

The vocal tradition doesn't seem to have as many practitioners today. Any thoughts as to why?

When I first started, performers were very helpful to one another. People were just closer in the entertainment world. It was still tough, but if you had a little something on the ball and respected your elders and everything, they said, "Let's help this guy out." It's different now. They make it too tough for the young performers. I've been trying to start this Frank Sinatra School of Performing Arts in Astoria [New York]. It's being well received and we're hoping to have a wonderful school where [high school age] musicians can study, but can also get properly involved with different venues, little auditoriums where they can actually perform live before they go out into the entertainment world. It's not just performing, they'll have to have a good educational background, so when they go to college they know how to write essays and do everything right.

So the old style apprenticeships are dead?

The thing that's different today is that they have to get it in school, instead of a circuit where they could go from town to town and really hone. The early masters went from town to town and worked the whole country and, finally, after ten or twelve years, they became consummate performers. That's the only thing that's regretful to me about the young musicians. There are very few people like Madonna or Paul McCartney or Elton John who stay up there. The majority are just big for one or two years and then they fade out. And it's cruel, because once it gets in your blood you don't want to stop. Mick Jagger once said in an interview, "When I'm fifty, I'm not going to be like Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett. I'm going to get out of the business." And he's still doing it. People cheer you on and they love you and you feel like, "Wait 'til they see the next thing I'm going to come up with."

So what's the next thing you're going to come up with?

I've been commissioned by the Juilliard String Quartet. It will be the first time a popular singer has ever sung with the Juilliard String Quartet. That's next on the burner.

ANDREW DANSBY
(October 15, 1999)