Some people think that anyone could sing jazz, but they can’t. It’s a gift of learning how to syncopate but it’s also a spirit that you’re either born with or you’re not. And Amy was born with that spirit.
The Amy he spoke of was Amy Winehouse.
On March 23rd 2011, Tony and Dae Bennett met with Amy Winehouse at Abbey Road Studio 3 for what was to be the British singer’s last recording session, exactly four months before her death on July 23rd.
This is a video of that session.
I am gobsmacked with her choice of singing under Tony with her contra-alto on the second verse that just fucking slays me.
I did not know she started by accompanying herself by playing guitar.
At 21, she laid down jazz riffs and expounded on the virtues of a Stratocaster.
I’ve known Roberto for a few years via a mutual friend and as such I knew some of his wonderful qualities, but until recently was totally unaware of the depth of his musical artistry.
Exhibit A is his performance of Loro, composed by Egberto Gismonti.
I now cheerfully respond to all solicitations, telemarketers or otherwise, with “You sound awfully nice and sincere, but because you might actually be the NSA, I am uncomfortable speaking with you.”
Inspiration for the song is said to be from Chan’s visit to South Africa where she met children orphaned by the diamond trade. However, she didn’t write the song until later. From Wikipedia (emphasis mine):
Marshall wrote “Cross Bones Style,” along with five other songs from Moon Pix, one night in the fall of 1997, after awaking from a hallucinatory nightmare while alone in the South Carolina farmhouse she shared with then-boyfriend, Bill Callahan. “My nightmare was surrounding my house like a tornado,” she explained. “So I just ran and got my guitar because I was trying to distract myself. I had to turn on the lights and sing to God. I got a tape recorder and recorded the next sixty minutes. And I played these long changes, into six different songs. That’s where I got the record.”