Simultaneously intimate and epic, Tony Bennett’s The Art of Romance is a delicate and lovely recording perfectly enhanced with the subtleties of jazz and the grandeur of Johnny Mandel’s lush orchestral touches. A decade ago Mandel teamed up with Shirley Horn to record the enduring classic Here’s To Life which featured the most potent breakup song I know of: “Where Do You Start.” Bennett’s interpretation of that bittersweet gem gives me goose bumps as he softly sings “Which things are yours/ Which books and dreams are mine?/ Our lives are tangled like the branches of a vine/ That intertwine…”

Bennett picked out the classy selections which include gorgeous renditions of the standards “Gone With The Wind” and “I Remember You” as well as lesser known discoveries such as Geoffrey Clarkson/Johnny Mercer’s “Time To Smile” and Harold Arlen/Truman Capote’s “Don’t Like Goodbyes.” Few vocalists have aged as gracefully as Tony Bennett and he remains at the pinnacle of his art on The Art of Romance.