The White House Sessions: Live 1962

アメリカ・エンターテインメント史上に残る歴史的イベントの記録音源が初発売。トニー・ベネットとデイヴ・ブルーベック2大巨匠が共演した一夜限りの1962年8月28日、ワシントンD.C.でのライヴ音源! 20世紀の音楽シーンを語るのに欠かせない2大ビッグ・ネームがたった一度だけ共演した1962年ワシントン・モニュメントでのライヴ。アーカイヴから発見された貴重な音源が50年余の月日を経て初めて発売となる! 1962年といえば、トニー・ベネット代表曲の1つである"霧のサンフランシスコ"が発売された大変重要な年であり、一方のデイヴ・ブルーベックも『デイヴ・ディグズ・ディズニー』(1957年)、『タイム・アウト』(1959年)、『ボサノヴァU.S.A』(1962年)といったベスト・セラー・アルバムを続々世に送り続けていた時期にあたる。共演当時の2人は36歳と42歳。このライヴから約半世紀を経た2009年、ニューポート・ジャズ・フェスティヴァルで2人は奇跡の再共演を果たすことになるが、その時2人は83歳と89歳になっていた。そして、2012年12月5日デイヴ・ブルーベックは92歳の誕生日を翌日にひかえ、この世を去った。プロデューサーにはアメリカ音楽史に残るテオ・マセロの名前がクレジットされている。ジャズで初のミリオンヒットとなった"テイク・ファイヴ"をはじめ、マイルス・デイヴィスや、サイモン&ガーファンクルの『卒業』を手掛けたことでも有名だ。
ソニー

Since both were performing their own sets at the White House Seminar American Jazz Concert on the Sylvan Theater grounds on August 28, 1962, Tony Bennett and Dave Brubeck decided to perform an impromptu collaborative set together that day, and although one song from it was eventually released, a version of "That Old Black Magic," the rest of the hour-or-so-long tape ended up lost in the vast Sony catalog vault until it surfaced again shortly after Brubeck's death in 2012. Now finally available, it reveals two master performers at the very top of their respective games.|

Since both were performing their own sets at the White House Seminar American Jazz Concert on the Sylvan Theater grounds on August 28, 1962, Tony Bennett and Dave Brubeck decided to perform an impromptu collaborative set together that day, and although one song from it was eventually released, a version of "That Old Black Magic," the rest of the hour-or-so-long tape ended up lost in the vast Sony catalog vault, filed, as it turned out, with several classical tapes, until it surfaced again shortly after Brubeck's death in 2012. Now finally available, it reveals two master performers at the very top of their respective games. Bennett's signature song, "I Left My Heart in San Francisco," had been released only a couple of weeks before the concert, while Brubeck's "Take Five" had just begun to take on its iconic significance. Brubeck and his quartet, Paul Desmond on alto sax, Eugene Wright on bass, and Joe Morello on drums, played a four-song set, followed by a six-song set from Bennett and his band, with Ralph Sharon on piano, Hal Gaylor on bass, and Billy Exiner on drums. Then came an unrehearsed and impromptu four-song set from Bennett and Brubeck, with Wright on bass and Morello on drums (alto saxophonist Desmond sat out) that included versions of "That Old Black Magic" (the only track previously released before this), "Lullaby of Broadway," "Chicago (That Toddlin' Town)," and "There Will Never Be Another You," each of which purveys a loose, fun elegance that makes this archival find a true treasure. Bennett and Brubeck would not perform together again until both appeared and briefly reunited on-stage at the 2009 Newport Jazz Festival. ~ Steve Leggett