MUMBAI: Following the immediate sell-out of their recently announced special evening at The Wiltern on 8 February in Los Angeles, Live Nation has announced that two additional concerts have been confirmed with Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga. In celebration of their new collaborative jazz album ‘Cheek To Cheek’, the pair of icons will join forces for two evenings – 30 May at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles and 19 June at Radio City Music Hall, New York. Tickets for both performances will go on sale starting 3 November.
Both artistes will be accompanied by a full orchestra along with each artiste’s jazz ensembles who will also serve as special guests for the evening.
‘Cheek to Cheek’ debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 charts upon its release on 23 September. Now at 88, Bennett remains the oldest artiste in music industry history to have an album on the number one spot on the Billboard charts. ‘Cheek To Cheek’ marks Lady Gaga’s third consecutive number one album release in just over three years.
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‘Cheek To Cheek’ features classic jazz standards sung by Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett in a combination of vocal duets and solo performances. From the title track to ‘But Beautiful’ to ‘I Won’t Dance’, the record showcases the chemistry between the two artistes, who span 60 years in age.
As Bennett says, “What I really love about being a jazz singer is that jazz artistes are very creative, very honest, from phrase to phrase,” and Lady Gaga adds, “We wanted to make something that sounded perfect because of the quality of the emotion, the honesty.”
“We are thrilled to present this very special show. Individually they are incredible talents, together it is something not to be missed,” said Live Nation President of Global Touring and Chairman of Global Music Arthur Fogel.
The album also features the Lady Gaga solo ‘Lush Life’, accompanied by Tony Bennett’s solo of ‘Sophisticated Lady’. The two songs complement each other, as Lady Gaga explains, “I loved making ‘Lush Life,’ Tony mentored me emotionally through the process,” and Tony Bennett adds, “I sang ‘Sophisticated Lady’ to answer her on ‘Lush Life,’ and because Duke Ellington wrote it, who collaborated with Billy Strayhorn, the writer of ‘Lush Life.'”
Recorded in New York City, ‘Cheek To Cheek’ took over a year to complete and features jazz musicians associated with both artistes including members of Bennett’s quartet – Mike Renzi, Gray Sargent, Harold Jones and Marshall Wood as well as pianist Tom Ranier. Jazz trumpeter Brian Newman, a long-time friend and colleague of Lady Gaga appears on the album as well with his NYC-based jazz quintet. Jazz soloists on selected tracks include tenor saxophonist Joe Lovano, trumpeter George Rabbai and flutist Paul Horn, who passed away in July.
