Tony Bennett: On Holiday
Ever since his big commercial comeback a few years ago, there hasn't exactly been a shortage of Tony Bennett albums, from plentiful reissues to studio records to a Grammy-winning MTV Unplugged recording. Now he's got On Holiday, a collection of Billie Holiday covers that are every bit as elegant as you've come to expect. Of course, Bennett's distinctive voice makes just about everything he sings sound the same—in other words, like Tony Bennett music—but the arrangements are surprisingly creative, complementing the songs nicely: For example, his vocals on "What a Little Moonlight Can Do" are accompanied only by Ralph Sharon's lone, playful piano. As always, Bennett is a joy to behold throughout On Holiday, but what's with the album-closing "God Bless The Child"? A "duet" with the long-deceased Holiday, it continues in the escalating tradition of singers (Natalie Cole, the surviving Beatles) performing with dead legends. Frankly, that's pretty creepy.