Name: Bennett Sings Ellington Hot & Cool
ISBN: 9780769293592

Synopsis

Fourteen Ellington classics brought to new life by this legendary singer who continues to amaze. Includes beautiful reproductions of original portraits of Duke Ellington painted by Tony Bennett, showing another side to this multi-talented entertainer. Titles: Azure * Caravan * Chelsea Bridge * Day Dream * Do Nothin' Till You Hear from Me * Don't Get Around Much Anymore * I'm Just a Lucky So and So * In a Mellow Mood * It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing) * Mood Indigo * Prelude to a Kiss * I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good) * Sophisticated Lady.

Recommendations

Lush Life

by Dallas Murphy

Price captures the rhythmic, conversational quality of jazz in prose form—his dialogue has that same improvisational feel as Bennett's phrasing over Ellington's compositions, where every word lands exactly where it needs to. The novel's Lower East Side setting pulses with the same sophisticated melancholy you hear in 'Mood Indigo,' exploring how people navigate beauty and loss in urban spaces.

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Cover of A Full and Accurate Report of the Evidence Produced on Mr. Wardle's Accusation of His Royal Highness, the Duke of York, for Misconduct in His Public Office With the Amatory Correspondence of His Royal Highness with Mrs. Clarke, and the Interesting Letter

A Full and Accurate Report of the Evidence Produced on Mr. Wardle's Accusation of His Royal Highness, the Duke of York, for Misconduct in His Public Office With the Amatory Correspondence of His Royal Highness with Mrs. Clarke, and the Interesting Letter

by Frederick Aug (duke of York and Albany)

Since you've just experienced Bennett's visual and musical tribute to Ellington, hearing Ellington's own voice—witty, reflective, and deeply intelligent—in his personal correspondence offers an intimate counterpoint. These letters reveal the man behind the compositions you just heard reimagined, showing his philosophy about music and artistry in his own words.

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The remains of the day de Kazuo Ishiguro

by Gallix/François

This might seem like a departure, but Ishiguro's narrator embodies the same restrained elegance and unspoken emotion that Bennett brings to 'Sophisticated Lady'—there's tremendous feeling underneath the composed surface. The novel's meditation on a life devoted to refinement and service mirrors the quiet dignity in how Bennett interprets these Ellington standards, finding depth in restraint.

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Ralph Ellison - Invisible Man

by Anke Balduf

Ellison's prose has the same improvisational complexity as bebop—sentences that seem to wander but are actually precisely constructed—and the novel's engagement with jazz culture and African American artistic identity connects directly to Ellington's legacy that Bennett honors here. Published in 1952, it grounds you in the era when these compositions were being created.

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One Day, when I was Lost A Scenario Based on Alex Haley's "The Autobiography of Malcolm X"

by James Baldwin

A genuine surprise pick, but this memoir shares Bennett's commitment to artistic and personal reinvention—both men spent their lives perfecting their craft while grappling with identity and legacy. The book's lyrical passages about transformation and the pursuit of excellence resonate with the same aspiration you hear in Bennett's interpretations, where each note is a deliberate choice reflecting decades of mastery.

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