TWENTY-one years ago, in June 2002, Tony Bennett, who has died at the age of 96, took a 10am phone call in his top-floor New York apartment. At the other end of the line was the Sunday Herald's Graeme Virtue.
What had prompted the interview was that Bennett was scheduled to fly to Glasgow to make his latest appearance at the city's renowned Jazz Festival.
The weather in Glasgow, Virtue informed him that morning, was cold and raining. ''That's too bad,'' Bennett said with a chuckle, before, in Virtue's words, embarking on a charm offensive that would be outrageous if it wasn't offered up so humbly.
''I have had great days in Glasgow through the years", Bennett told him. "I used to play a theatre there, and Sundays were off. I took a ride out into the country and by accident I heard bagpipes and I ran into the Highland Games. I spent the whole day there. It was one of the greatest experiences of my life, seeing all those games and the dancers. Unforgettable.''
Review: Tony Bennett in Glasgow, 2014
Bennett, who was then aged 75, had been a frequent visitor to concert stages in Glasgow. Two years earlier, in 2000, he had performed at Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh. Scotland, he said, was where he likes to perform.
''It might sound condescending, but it's not", he said. It's my favourite place to play, Scotland. The audiences there are so much fun to perform to and as I speak to you right now, I can still remember the applause through the years that the Scots have given me. Especially one very memorable time with Count Basie's band, that was a great show.''
A noted painter, Bennett's love of Scotland even extended at one time to watercolours of Loch Lomond and Edinburgh Castle, which were viewable on his website.
In 2003 he closed the Glasgow Jazz Festival with a well-received open-air concert in George Square.
Despite his age, Bennett remained relevant to a younger generation of fans and musicians. Despite having been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2016, he continued to to perform and make records during 2021.
Variety magazine said in its obituary today: "Active as a recording artist from 1949, and one of the top pop performers in the ‘50s and early ‘60s, Bennett saw his career surge anew in the ‘90s and again in the new millennium, under the management of his son Danny.
"In later years, he memorably dueted on the standard “Body and Soul” with Amy Winehouse, and released a full-length duet album with Diana Krall and a pair of recordings with Lady Gaga. Even after the revelation in early 2021 that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, he remained active".
Bennett's last public appearance was with Gaga at Radio City Music Hall in August 2021, two months before his final release, the Bennett-Gaga album, “Love for Sale".
His comeback, engineered by his son Danny, in 1986, from a time when he was out of contract and out of fashion had begun with an album, The Art Of Excellence. Then an album of duets paired him with such names as BB King and Ray Charles. He made a number of acclaimed appearances on television, and his “MTV Unplugged” album of 1994 won a Grammy as album of the year. A pair of “Duets” albums in 2006 and 2011 won him a legion of new fans.
Asked by Virtue how he managed to look so good for his age, Bennett replied: "I take care of myself, you know. I play a lot of tennis, eat the right foods, I like doing that. Between music and art I have so much to learn yet that I want to stay in good health and try to improve myself as much as possible".
On the subject of his remarkable and seemingly effortless rehabilitation, Bennett acknowledged: ''The public has been so good to me. The backstage scenes were sometimes tough because it comes to money and greed, and you meet some hooligans. But the public has always supported me and always cheered for me no matter what happens, and I just try and give that much back to them.''
Tony Bennett, Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow
Asked whether there had been a point where it could have all spun out of control, he responded: ''I've been fortunate. You never know, we're all so fragile. Sometimes we're strong and sometimes we're fragile and I've been fortunate that I've been able to carry on, without any big tragedies.
Virtue then wondered aloud how Bennett managed to make I Left My Heart In San Francisco, one of his best-known songs sound fresh every night.
''I'm surrounded by a magnificent jazz quartet", came te response down the line from New York. "And believe me, anything I sing is never the same twice. I sing it different every night. The phrases, the atmosphere, the situation is always a little different. It's like asking Rex Harrison how could he do My Fair Lady every night? You've got to go out like it's the first time every time. And that's the challenge, what separates the men from the boys.''
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