Tony Bennett & Bill Charlap: The Silver Lining

On his reflective, relaxed, rewarding new album with pianist Bill Charlap and his reliable rhythm section of bassist Peter Washington and drummer Kenny Washington, Tony Bennett, like Ol’ Man River, just keeps rolling along, deeply involved as ever in the lyrics he phrases so impeccably for maximum emotional impact. Fittingly, Bennett is here honoring another giant of American song, Jerome Kern, who in the early 20th century changed the course of American popular music while also creating the modern musical theater by embracing new ideas largely drawn from the jazz music of his youth, one indelible artifact of which is the towering musical Show Boat, featuring Paul Robeson immortalizing Kern’s song “Ol’ Man River.” Capturing the intimacy and immediacy of a cabaret performance, producers Charlap and Dae Bennett keep the 89-year-old Tony front and center, with the band providing tasty, circumspect, economical support, the better to frame the singer nonpareil’s artful readings. From the tender, loving musings of “All The Things You Are” to the wistful romanticism infusing “The Last Time I Saw Paris” to the cool, measured swing fueling “Dearly Beloved,” Bennett makes The Silver Lining both a worthy tribute and a journey guaranteed to touch his listeners’ hearts.