Personnel: Tony Bennett (vocals); Bill Evans (piano). Recorded at Fantasy Studios, Berkeley, California from June 10-13, 1975. Originally released on Fantasy (9489). Digitally remastered by Alan Yoshida using XRCD (Extended Resolution Compact Disc) technology (Ocean Way/JVC Mastering). In 1975, Tony Bennett was not known for small-scale, cabaret-style sonic settings. Nor was jazz innovator Bill Evans known for working with "pop" singers. As this landmark collaboration (so satisfying it prompted a successor) proved, the pair were eminently compatible. Both possessed an unparalleled sensitivity and an ability to scale dynamic extremes from subtlety to bravura. Bennett sings with unprecedented delicacy and intimacy over Evans's technicolor arrangements. The latter's piano textures are complex, elegant and endlessly shifting as they accompany Bennett's tender ministrations on a program of mostly standards. So definitive is the singer's work here that Bennett neophytes could safely begin their exploration with this album.

• Genre: Pop
• Format: Vinyl
• Released: 11/04/2014