The first time Tony Bennett recorded the jazz standard "Fascinating Rhythm," he wasn't Tony Bennett. This was the spring of 1949, when the singer born Anthony Dominick Benedetto still went by his original stage name, Joe Bari. "Fascinating Rhythm" happens to be his debut recording — the B-side of a 78-rpm disc produced by the critic George Simon, issued through Leslie Records. For many years, until stumbled across by a collector, it was presumed lost. "The one copy I had literally crumbled in my hands in the 1960s," Bennett noted in his 1998 autobiography, The Good Life.
Bennett celebrates his 92nd birthday Friday, and occupies quite a different place in the world than he did back in '49. But some things never change, including his unwavering devotion to what we now call the Great American Songbook.
Bennett's new album — a collaboration with Diana Krall titled Love is Here to Stay (out Sept. 14) — pays tribute to the music of George and Ira Gershwin. News of the album arrived Friday with a neat flourish in tow: its lead single is "Fascinating Rhythm." This new version, available on all digital platforms, features Bennett and Krall trading vocal salvos, with impeccable backing by the Bill Charlap Trio. (Charlap, a pianist who also worked with Bennett on their 2015 album The Silver Lining: The Songs of Jerome Kern, produced this release with Dae Bennett, the younger of Tony's two sons. His older son and manager, Verve Label Group CEO Danny Bennett, served as executive producer.)