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List Price: $11.98 | | Label: Sony
Salesrank: 20693
Released: November 21, 2006 |
| Our Price: $5.59 |
| Used Price: $4.77 |
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MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Tracks:
1."Smile" Barbra Streisand
2."Sing You Sinners" John Legend
3."Because Of You" k.d. lang and Chris Botti
4."The Best Is Yet To Come" Diana Krall
5."The Shadow Of Your Smile" Juanes
6."Rags To Riches" Elton John
7."Just In Time" Michael Bublé
8."For Once In My Life" Stevie Wonder
9."Steppin' Out With My Baby" Christina Aguilera
10."I Left My Heart In San Francisco" Tony Bennett
Product Description:
TONY BENNETT: AN AMERICAN CLASSIC is a ground-breaking television event that takes us on a musical journey of this legendary entertainer's life. Re-creating the venues of Tony's career, from the downtown Greenwich Village club where Tony was discovered, to the Columbia recording studios of the early 60's, from rat pack Las Vegas to Carnegie Hall, Tony will be joined for each show-stopping number by the myriad of superstars that appear with him on his Duets album. In a bold re-invention of the form, each set piece was filmed as a small movie by an Academy Award-winning team, lead by director Rob Marshall (Memoirs Of A Geisha, Chicago.) Seamlessly woven throughout the program will be introductions and narrative insights. This event invites us to celebrate the life of who Frank Sinatra called "the greatest singer ever." As the special ends, Tony Bennett will take the empty stage, this time alone, and deliver his signature classic, "I Left My Heart In San Francisco."
Description of Tony Bennett - American Classic:
High concept and high class, An American Classic is a worthy visual complement to Tony Bennett's 2006 duets CD of the same name. The notion of pairing veteran artists with a variety of singing partners is nothing new, of course (cf. B.B. King and Frank Sinatra, among many others), but this one goes a step further; under the direction of Rob Marshall (Chicago, Memoirs of a Geisha) and his team, Bennett appears in what's described as a "docu-musical," faithfully re-creating a variety of performance settings much like the ones in which the 80-year-old singer has appeared in the course of his long, fruitful career. Thus we find him on a concert stage with Barbra Streisand ("Smile"), in a nightclub with John Legend (a swinging, uptempo "Sing, You Sinners"), in the studio with k.d. lang and trumpeter Chris Botti ("Because of You"), on a '60s-style TV variety show with Diana Krall (a classy "The Best is Yet to Come"), in Vegas with Elton John ("Rags To Riches") and then Michael Buble (an amusing "Just in Time"), and so forth, on up to Bennett's triumphant shot on MTV Unplugged with Christina Aguilera (no jazz singer, but she keeps most of her excesses in check on "Steppin' Out") and the inevitable "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" (Bennett with piano accompaniment only). It's all very respectful, well staged, and entertainingly choreographed, but if this 45-minute cavalcade has a significant shortcoming, it's that it mostly lacks fire and spontaneity; the only time Bennett cuts loose is during an audio-only "I Got Rhythm" heard under the various DVD menus. Viewers may also be disappointed that Sting, Bono, Paul McCartney, James Taylor, the Dixie Chicks, and several others on the CD do not appear here, and it's a notable drag that not a single one of the composers or arrangers of the material is identified. Bonus features include a "making of" documentary and other featurettes. --Sam Graham
Tony Bennett - American Classic Reviews:
poorly executed idiotic idea. 
2009-11-08 - Bennett needs these "singers" to do duets with, like he needs a hole in the head. The most obvious thing that comes out of viewing this mess, is that Bennett is Bennett is now in a class by himself and the rest, save KD Lang, Stevie, Streisand and the campy Elton John, are not even in the ballpark. The intro's, intrusive and unnecessary on the first viewing, become all the more grating on subsequent viewings.
Pass on this mess and get the DVD's of Bennett in concert with his trio. There are several and all are better than this mess. The one produced by Clint Eastwood is a good place to start.
Better yet do yourself a huge favor and make sure to be in the audience the next time Mr. Bennett comes anywhere near your town. Rarely will you encounter an entertainer of such skill, who remains so enraptured with the joy of giving his all at every performance.
TV musical showcase, au courant. 
2009-10-28 - Cannot fault Tony Bennett, the performer, the talent. At age eighty in 2006, took up the idea from son Danny, Academy winner director/choreographer Rob Marshall ('Chicago') and others to perform in a television spectacle that will become an enduring musical event. Bennett teamed up with Christina Aguilera, Michael Bublé, Chris Botti, Elton John, Juanes, Diana Krall, k.d. lang, John Legend, Barbra Streisand, Stevie Wonder (and other musical artists, regrettably not all of whom are included in this curiously brief blue-ray recording).
Presentations from celebrities such as Billy Crystal, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Bruce Willis, John Travolta and Robert De Niro might constitute an attraction but it is the musical production, arrangements and recorded sound most particularly, that stands out here. There are the considerable contributions of Bob Marshall with those of regular collaborators and others, such as from John Myhre (Production Design); Thomas Voth (Art Direction); Barbara Cassel (Set Decoration); Dion Beebe (Cinematography); Wyatt Smith (Film Editing); Colleen Atwood (Costume Design), with Bill Charlap (solo piano on 'I Left My Heart in San Francisco'), Phil Ramone (music producer of original songs) and also Brian Mather and Tim Pingel (guitar), both uncredited.
Favorite musical numbers come from k.d. lang ('Because of You', w. Chris Botti) and Stevie Wonder ('For Once in My Life'), while vocals stand out for most of the rest ('Sing You Sinners' w. John Legend'; with Diana Krall on Steve Allen's 'The Best is Yet to Come'; Michael Bublé; etc.). The Streisand, Aguilera and Elton John numbers seem to lack vocal spontaneiety (perhaps attributable to insufficient rehearsal time), but the visuals and choreography are a constant in entertainment value, if not extremely original. Which brings us to the dance numbers, on stage under Marshall and, I believe, collaborators Scott Hislop and Michelle Johnston. The nine attractive dancers are: Eboni 'Chrystal' Adams (as Eboni Adams), Nancy Anderson, Aliane Baquerot, Staci B. Flood (as Staci Flood), Scott Fowler, Lonnie Henderson, Brandon Henschel, Kevin Alexander Stea (as Kevin Stea), Yvette Tucker, all uniformely excellent, with Ms. Tucker a particular standout.
Executive producers: Rob Marshall, Danny Bennett and John DeLuca.
Tony Bennett--truly an American Classic
2009-10-07 - I've seen this fabulous birthday tribute to Tony Bennett, twice, once on my HDTV and again as a rental in Blu-ray--and it's fabulous. If you're never able to see Tony live which I painfully regret to admit, this Blu-ray release will really put you there in all its high definition. The only reason I knocked off a star is because of the shortness of the program but director Rob Marshall (Chicago, Memoirs of a Geisha) has done a superb job of bringing off this tribute to Bennett in grand fashion. Bennett once said to Ray Charles that he didn't have a really great voice but the late Charles said, "But baby, you sing with so much feeling" And that's where it counts!!
American Classic captured my heart with pleasure 
2009-07-15 - I saw this video on PBS a number of times and when I found out I could get it through Amazon, I hopped on the band wagon and bought it. It was one of the best buys I have made. I love the idea of seeing/hearing some of the greatest performers on earth doing their thing. Now I own it and can watch it whenever I want. It is something I share with friends whenever we get together.
Awesome
2009-05-29 - A must have for any Tony Bennett aficionado! My only complaint would be, it's too short.
