By October 1976, Bill Evans and Tony Bennett had recorded two albums of duets for Tony's short-lived Improv label. I've always had mixed feelings about the recordings. For me, it's strange to hear Evans at this stage of his career as second fiddle to anyone and even stranger to hear Tony having to defer, musically, to his accompanist. [Photo above of Bill Evans, Tony Bennett, producer and Evans's manager Helen Keane and engineer Don Cody in 1975]
But strangest of all, perhaps, is the contrasting personalities of Evans, the melancholy introvert, playing against Tony, the sunny-side-up optimist. For a long time, I've felt the two albums were a great idea on paper but a clashing of styles in actuality.
More recently, however, I've come to view the music somewhat differently. What unifies Evans and Bennett in the mid-1970s is that both were fighting for their lives. Evans was sinking steadily into addiction and ailments while Tony was unmoored, having left Columbia Records at the start of the decade. He suddenly faced the harsh reality of the new marketplace on his own, which left him rattled, depressed and battling demons of his own.
So in effect, these were two artists who 10 years earlier were hailed for their staggering talent and promise but by the mid-1970s were scraping by here in the age of disco, romantic soul and arena rock. Viewed through this overlay, the music takes on a different feel. Instead of thinking of the pairing as two greats with clashing styles (poetic v. operatic), I've come to hear these albums as two giants leaning on each other as they struggled to find their way in the dark.
By listening to the music this way, I find I can hear the depth and worry and fear and anxiety, which makes the music much more complex and dimensional than simply a jazz king teaming up with a pop icon. No song better reflects this than We'll Be Together Again. Four years later, Evans would be dead, his body raked by drug abuse. Ten years later, Tony would begin his groundbreaking comeback at age 60 after hitting rock bottom.
In late 1976, to promote their first album (The Tony Bennett/Bill Evans Album, released in 1975) while teasing their second (Together Again, due out in early 1977), Evans and Tony appeared on Canadian television for a half-hour special. Interesting that Evans chose to open and close with the theme to The Bad and the Beautiful, which was something of a warm-up for him and included on the second album. He never would record the song again.
Here's the broadcast...
