Photo: Annette Navarro
It’s perhaps easy to say “like father, like daughter” when one hears that Antonia Bennett, Tony Bennett’s daughter, is forging quite the career in her own right as a jazz vocalist. But whereas I always feel Tony embraces a song with a warm, welcoming bear hug, Antonia sidles up to a melody—insinuating her arching, breathy vocals ever so nuanced, yet romantic and warm. And knowing.
And within a week where we’re pitching past life’s travails, I found listening to Antonia’s new 6-song EP ‘Natural’ in preparation for this ticket giveaway to be quite the breath of fresh air—a welcome vocal approach, reminiscent of Chet Baker’s recordings with whom she shares a cover in “The Thrill Is Gone.”
Using the American Songbook as her foundation, Antonia explains, “I take each of the songs that I do as a story, with a beginning, middle and end – like a monologue – and I try to do my best to tell that story,” says Antonia. “I grew up listening to the American Songbook, and a variety of artists singing those songs. Singing these songs is like a home-cooked meal, like comfort food, something that is a part of me. The way I grew up, if you were going to take a song that was done by many of the great artists, you should bring a piece of yourself into it. Interpretation is an art form.”
She goes on to say, “We wanted to find wonderful standards that haven’t been overdone. In fact, none of these have been in my show repertoire. I used to sing “Puttin’ On the Ritz” when I was a little kid on stage with my Dad. I grew up singing it and love it. And if you’ve ever seen Young Frankenstein, you gotta love it!”
So, convince yourself as we have a pair of tickets to see Ms. Bennett along with her legendary father at Wolf Trap, this coming Friday night, 8/27.
To win, simply leave a response in the comments to this post as to why you should be awarded the pair of tickets. We’ll choose the most convincing response by 5PM Thursday evening, 8/26.
Remember to leave us a contact email address too!
