This Is My New Jersey

“I have to say I owe my career to the master composers of the Great American Songbook who have written such high-quality songs – the best popular music ever composed.” ~ Tony Bennett

Yesterday the world lost a music icon and New Jersey lost a favorite son. Of course I am talking about Tony Bennett.

While New York City claims him as their own, the truth is he spent a significant amount of his youth in Englewood, New Jersey. Later he would return to the town to record at Bennett Studios; a converted 100-year-old Victorian railroad station that housed two world-class rooms in the Neve VR60-equipped North Studio and SSL4080 South Studio.

Born as Anthony Dominick Benedetto, Bennett lived as many other Italian immigrants did; facing a tough life full of challenges and heartbreak. He began to share his artistic soul with others at a young age and attended New York’s School of Industrial Art where he studied painting and music. His father passed away when Mr. Bennett was 10 years ago. By age 16 he would drop out to help support his family. He worked in Italian neighborhoods as a singing waiter and had a successful run at a club in Paramus.

When World War II broke out, he joined the military to fight for freedom. His service took him from Fort Dix to France and later into Germany. In January 1945, he was assigned as a replacement infantryman to the 255th Infantry Regiment of the 63rd Infantry Division, a unit filling in for the heavy losses suffered in the Battle of the Bulge. In March 1945, he joined the front line of what he would later describe as a “front-row seat in Hell.” At the war’s conclusion he was involved in the liberation of the Kaufering concentration camp, a subcamp of Dachau. Those experiences played a major role of becoming a pacifist.

When he returned to the United States, he used his GI Bill to study at the American Theatre Wing, where he learned the bel canto singing discipline. It would play a major role in developing his unique sound. He would become one of the great crooners of his generation. He would introduce generation after generation to the “Great American Songbook.”

Over the years he collaborated with an amazing variety of singers and musicians. From K.D. Lang to fellow New Jerseyan, Queen Latifah, everyone wanted to sing with him. One of his well-known collaborations was with fellow Italian American Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta; but she’s known around the world as Lady Gaga.

Germanotta has often said he “saved her life.” She was very close to quitting singing. He listened and became her confidant and friend. He would always simply call her “Lady.”

The two first crossed paths at the 2011 Robin Hood Foundation gala in New York City, where both were performing. Their first song together was “The Lady Is a Tramp,” recorded at Avatar Studio in Manhattan. The song was on his Duets II album. Since then, the two were inseperable.

His last public performance was a few years ago where the duo took to the stage at Radio City Music Hall.

My husband and I were lucky to see him once in person. He was a surprise guest at the 2015 Billy Joel concert we attended. He sang New York State of Mind and it was an amazing highlight of the night.

Now the music is still and his park bench is empty.

I count myself among the millions of fans who are sad that he has left us. But as my husband put it, “he’s singing for the real Chairman of the Board now.”

And what a concert I’m sure it is. Thank you Anthony.