After numerous delays, it looks like Cheek To Cheek, Lady Gaga‘s long-awaited album of jazz classics with Tony Bennett, is about to become a reality. The disc is set for a September 23rd release date, not long before the pop queen is due to wrap up her six month ArtRave: The ARTPOP Ball tour. Will the swingin’ duo take their act on the road anytime soon? Last night we got word from Mother Monster herself!
Gaga and Bennett certainly aren’t shy about performing live together. They famously shared the stage at President Obama’s inaugural ball in January 2013, and more recently treated fans at the Montreal Jazz Festival to a surprise duet earlier this month. The pair headlined their first full show yesterday at New York’s Lincoln Center for a taping of Cheek To Cheek LIVE!, a television concert special scheduled to air on PBS later this fall. It will be a once in a lifetime musical marriage of two generation-defining vocalists, but will Little Monsters (young and old) be able to see the duo in person?
“I’d like to tour together. We love singing together,”
Gaga told us as she strolled arm-in-arm with Bennett down the red carpet. Leaving her meat-dress at home, she was a vision of Old Hollywood glamour in a regal black satin gown and diamante waist band. “I’m going to be seeing a lot more of Mr. Bennett,” she purred in full vamp mode, tenderly resting her head on his tuxedoed shoulder. For anyone who loves music, this is definitely a reason to put your paws up.
Lady Gaga first joined forces with the legendary crooner in 2011, recording a version of “Lady Is A Tramp” for Bennett’s Duets II collection. Despite being 59 years -and many genres- apart, the two have become extremely close in recent months, with Gaga even tattooing one of Tony’s sketches on her arm! Obvious differences aside, Mr. Bennett tells us that their connection makes more sense than it appears. “We understand one another musically. There are just certain people who know how to improvise and how to make a song different every time. It might be the same song, but they do it differently every night. She has that talent.”
The songs in question are pulled from the Great American Songbook, penned by greats like Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, and George Gershwin. They’ve become standards in the jazz cannon, covered by an untold number of artists for nearly a century. How are Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett making iconic these songs their own? “We’re singing them together,” Gaga laughs. “And no one’s done that before!”
The songs in question are pulled from the Great American Songbook, penned by greats like Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, and George Gershwin. They’ve become standards in the jazz cannon, covered by an untold number of artists for nearly a century. How are Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett making iconic these songs their own? “We’re singing them together,” Gaga laughs. “And no one’s done that before!”
