Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga - Cheek To Cheek: Live! [2LP]

Cheek to Cheek: Live! catches Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga at their most delighted, an octogenarian crooner and a pop provocateur trading standards on one New York stage, now spread across a double vinyl pressing.

Recorded in 2014 at Lincoln Center and later broadcast on PBS as part of Great Performances, the concert supports their collaborative studio album and proves the pairing was no gimmick. Bennett, who had spent six decades perfecting the Great American Songbook, treated Gaga as an equal, and she answered by dropping the spectacle in favour of a big, theatrical jazz voice that surprised plenty of listeners. Their chemistry is audible, full of grins, asides and the kind of mutual admiration that cannot be faked.

Anything Goes opens the night with a wink and a swing, the title track Cheek to Cheek turns Irving Berlin’s romance into a playful duet, Lush Life gives Gaga room to sing a tricky ballad with real feeling, and It Don’t Mean a Thing closes the show with a joyful, finger-snapping flourish.

Bennett died in 2023, which gives this document of the pair a tender weight. Two generations, one stage, and a band that knows exactly when to stay out of the way. An easy one to put on for a dinner party or a quiet night in.