Box Set Celebrates Artistry of Tony Bennett

The recording talent of Tony Bennett has been on display for virtually a half-century at Columbia Records, the longest track record that any living, charting popular music artist can claim. More than a dozen years ago, the first forty years of his remarkable career were revisited on a collection that has now been updated for a new generation. Adding a decade onto its original title, "Fifty Years: The Artistry of Tony Bennett" is a 5-CD set which will arrive in stores October 12th on RPM/Columbia, a division of Sony Music.

The new box sets the stage for Bennett's next Columbia studio album, "The Art Of Romance," scheduled to arrive in stores November 9th. Tony Bennett celebrated his 78th birthday on August 3rd.

Bennett personally chose each of the 110 recordings on the box set. The newly compiled fifth disc covers 1992 to 2002 with 22 tracks. This was an extraordinary decade for Bennett that yielded nine new Columbia studio albums, eight of which won the Best Traditional Pop Vocal Grammy Award, a record-setting achievement. And "Tony Bennett: MTV Unplugged" also received Grammy's highest honor, Album Of The Year. Disc five begins with 1992-93 tributes to Frank Sinatra ("East Of The Sun (West Of The Moon)" from the "Perfectly Frank" tribute album; and "New York, New York" from Sinatra's own "Duets" project), and concludes with selections from 2002's "A Wonderful World" (duets with k.d. lang on "La Vie En Rose" and "What A Wonderful World").

"Fifty Years" includes a color booklet featuring dozens of rare photographs and essays on Bennett's career. Bennett himself contributes "Reflections," a track-by-track look back at every song on the box set.

SOURCE: Sony Legacy

CONTACT: Tom Cording of Legacy Media Relations, +1-212-833-4448,
tonybennett.net

Web site: http://www.legacyrecordings.com/