k.d. lang and Tony Bennett reunite on stage this Saturday at Davies Symphony Hall for the San Francisco Symphony’s 2010 Black & White Ball benefit concert. Bennett tells the Oakland Tribune: "k.d. has a gift ... I can't ask for a more pleasant thing to listen to than to listen to k.d. sing." For her part, lang says: "To be mentored by Tony, it's the kind of thing that is irreplaceable."
k.d. lang is set to reunite with Tony Bennett on stage this Saturday night at San Francisco's Davies Symphony Hall for the San Francisco Symphony’s 2010 Black & White Ball. The concert will include duets from the famed pair of singers as well as individual performances by each. All proceeds from the event go to support the Symphony’s Adventures in Music education program, which provides comprehensive music education to children in San Francisco public elementary schools.
Among k.d.'s four Grammy wins is the one for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album she earned for her collaboration with Bennett on A Wonderful World. The duo's rendition of "Moonglow," originally released on 1994's Tony Bennett: MTV Unplugged, is featured on disc two of Recollection, the recently released k.d. lang career retrospective out on Nonesuch.
The Oakland Tribune's Jim Harrington spoke with lang and Bennett, in their first-ever join phone interview, about what he calls their "quite unexpected—but vastly satisfying—musical bond." What unites these two seemingly disparate singers, says Harrington, is both their "passion for music" and their "tremendous voices." Before Bennett joins the conversation, lang recounts her recent trip to Australia, where she performed at the Logie Awards on May 2 and Recollection has remained at No. 1 on the charts ever since.
Once he does dial in, Bennett has some very kind things to say about his singing partner. "I can tell if someone has got it, or hasn't got it," he tells Harrington. "And k.d. has a gift. She's just a very beautiful, natural singer, and there aren't many of them around. Every note (of hers) has great feeling and honesty. I can't ask for a more pleasant thing to listen to than to listen to k.d. sing."
For her part, lang is quick to reply with praise of her own. She describes her relationship with Bennett as "an education that you couldn't even dream of attaining in your lifetime. To be mentored by Tony, it's the kind of thing that is irreplaceable."
Read what else lang and Bennett had to say in the interview at mercurynews.com.
There's also more from k.d., including talk of a new album in the works, in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, at sfgate.com.
For more information on Saturday's Black & White Ball, visit sfsymphony.org.
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