Famed singer and American songbook preservationist Michael Feinstein will perform with the Louisville Orchestra on Friday, April 11 at Whitney Hall. It will be a tribute to Feinstein's longtime friend Tony Bennett.
Michael learned his craft from family friends Rosemary Clooney, Frank Sinatra, and other legends.
tix: louisvilleorchestra.org
Michael learned his craft from family friends Rosemary Clooney, Frank Sinatra, and other legends.
tix: louisvilleorchestra.org
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Next weekend's kind of magical. There's the thunder over Louisville
that's set up. And then on Friday night, a week
from tonight, at the Kentucky Center, the great Michael Feinstein
is performing and he's joining us now live.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Hey Michael, welcome, it's good. Have you on.
Speaker 3 (00:15):
Thank you, Terry. It's my pleasure.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Are you in Carmel, Indiana?
Speaker 1 (00:19):
Now?
Speaker 3 (00:20):
I am in New York, New York.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
I love Carmel. If play golf up there a bunch
of times. And that's a great place obviously, right up
the road. So your neighbors will us sometimes, I guess.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Yes, I am. I love it. I love that city.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
So this night next week is a tribute to your
buddy Tony Bennett, who we love around here. You know,
he was here one time at the Kentucky Derby doing
his paintings and everybody.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
He was so great with people.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
He was amazing. He loved life and he loved what
he did. He viewed music as a way to bring
people together and spread more love in the world, and
that was his goal. And where did he do it?
Speaker 2 (01:01):
How did you guys become buddies.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
We met through a famous Kentucky and through Rosemary Clooney,
who was my second mom. I met her in California
many years ago and she introduced me to Tony, and Tony
and I became buddies because I was a young kid
singing the same kind of music he did, and he
encouraged me and helped put me on the map in
my early days. And so he's one of my role
(01:27):
models and inspirations, and I wanted to put together a
program that paid tribute to him and talk about his
kindness and his humor and tell people what he was
like as a man and share some of the music
that sadly will never hear him sing again. But I'm
able to sing to him in tribute, especially with the
Louisville Orchestra, which is one of the great orchestras.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
Yeah, we've got such terrific leadership with the Louisville Orchestra.
They're fantastic. Let me sidebar for him in and over
to Rosemary Clooney, I can picture you in that train
scene instead of like bing Crosby or someone just singing.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
That well. I used to spend Christmases every year with
Groats Mary, and it was like being in that movie
because Mary Wick who was in that movie would come over,
and all these people who had been in the cast
and danced in the movie would come over. So Christmas
it was like being in that movie every December.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Fantastic.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
So this show you'll do next Friday Night is about
Tony Bennett and his incredible life and career, and you're
going to run through, I would guess, some of the
highlights of his incredible run of hits.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
Yes I am, and I'm going to do some of
the lesser known things that he loved. But everything is
curated where I tell stories and put the songs in
a context. So it's not only about the music, but
it also is about his life and his philosophy. And
one day I was with Tony and I heard a
record he'd made that I hadn't heard before. I said, Tony,
that's a good song, and he said, Michael, I never
(03:01):
sang a bad song.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
I could just see his face light up when he
says that.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
Yep. Well, so we had fun together.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
You've been so great about your preserving the Great American
Songbook because you do this through so many different programs,
And that's fantastic because the songs of that era, you know,
are gonna hopefully still be around in two hundred more years.
But we need guys like you who keep breathing new
life into them.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
Oh thanks, Terry. The songs are timeless because excuse me,
it's like Shakespeare or Beethoven. It's not considered old. It's
ageless because the art still speaks to people. You know.
You see Michaelangelo's sculpture and it's still still is powerful,
you know, and that's the wonderful thing about art and music.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
But aren't you doing school programs and that sort of
thing too to make sure that younger people understand the
value of that muse from that era.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
Absolutely. You know you mentioned Karmel Well in Carmel, Indiana,
we have the Great American Songbook Foundation and every year
we have an annual high school Songbook Academy where kids
come from all over the United States to learn about
classic American popular song and it becomes another musical choice
next to the pop stuff they listen to. And it's
like planning seats because you know, once they're exposed to it,
(04:23):
they love it because it's great.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Music, Yeah, no doubt about it. And then you, as
a pianist also, you are you very persnickety about you
can't play certain types, so you have to have a
certain one in front of you.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
Well, you know, you go to a venue and you
hope that they have a great piano. I'm not like
God knows, like Horowitz, who was the greatest of the century,
and he'd always have his piano brought with him and delivered.
And as long as it's a good piano, I'm happy
to play it.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
So you don't want to do an upright in a
bar though, I mean, you've got to be about.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
I did that for so many years that you did.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
I also want to compl much fun.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
I want to compliment you on something that you did
in Carmel, and that was that Sinatra project that it
was the Sinatra Legacy.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Was that what it was called? And you did it
out of the Palladium?
Speaker 3 (05:18):
Yes, yes, I did the Sinatra Project and then I
did a sequel to that, and I did a TV
show that was broadcast I think on PBS, and that
was He was another person who was nice to me
when I when I was when I was in my twenties.
So these are all my heroes. And yeah, man, was
I lucky.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Yeah, obviously you're you're with these people who are iconic,
and I guess you you get to observe them in
real life and realize they're just regular folks too in
a certain way. The way they interact with.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
Others, that's true.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
And I was able to speak their language because I
knew the songs that they sang, and I knew some
of the songwriters who are still around. So they treated
me as an equal because I knew what was important
to their hearts.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
Interesting.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
Well, we're looking forward to this, Tony Bennett, the special
show that you have next Friday night. I know that
you've worked hard on this and people are excited about it,
I said Whitney Hall. The Kentucky Center of seven thirty
next Friday night, April eleventh, And the Louisville Orchestra, You're
just going to be thrilled with the quality of their productions.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
I love this orchestra. I haven't worked with him for
a number of years, but I'm very excited to have
the opportunity, especially with this show and some of the
amazing arrangements that they'll be playing. So it's all good.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
Okay, Well, looking forward to getting here in Louisville. It's
kind of soggy now, so we're waiting for the water
to walk away, and then by next Friday things ought
to be just dandy.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
A soggy day in Louisville. Okay, Why that's another one.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
That's for you, that's for your next album. Michael, Thanks
my pleasure, Thank you, great talking to you. Michael Feinstein's
his tribute to Tony Bennett. His next Friday Night seven
thirty Whitney Hall to Kentucky Center and you can get
tickets at Louisville Orchestra dot org
Next weekend's kind of magical. There's the thunder over Louisville
that's set up. And then on Friday night, a week
from tonight, at the Kentucky Center, the great Michael Feinstein
is performing and he's joining us now live.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Hey Michael, welcome, it's good. Have you on.
Speaker 3 (00:15):
Thank you, Terry. It's my pleasure.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Are you in Carmel, Indiana?
Speaker 1 (00:19):
Now?
Speaker 3 (00:20):
I am in New York, New York.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
I love Carmel. If play golf up there a bunch
of times. And that's a great place obviously, right up
the road. So your neighbors will us sometimes, I guess.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Yes, I am. I love it. I love that city.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
So this night next week is a tribute to your
buddy Tony Bennett, who we love around here. You know,
he was here one time at the Kentucky Derby doing
his paintings and everybody.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
He was so great with people.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
He was amazing. He loved life and he loved what
he did. He viewed music as a way to bring
people together and spread more love in the world, and
that was his goal. And where did he do it?
Speaker 2 (01:01):
How did you guys become buddies.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
We met through a famous Kentucky and through Rosemary Clooney,
who was my second mom. I met her in California
many years ago and she introduced me to Tony, and Tony
and I became buddies because I was a young kid
singing the same kind of music he did, and he
encouraged me and helped put me on the map in
my early days. And so he's one of my role
(01:27):
models and inspirations, and I wanted to put together a
program that paid tribute to him and talk about his
kindness and his humor and tell people what he was
like as a man and share some of the music
that sadly will never hear him sing again. But I'm
able to sing to him in tribute, especially with the
Louisville Orchestra, which is one of the great orchestras.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
Yeah, we've got such terrific leadership with the Louisville Orchestra.
They're fantastic. Let me sidebar for him in and over
to Rosemary Clooney, I can picture you in that train
scene instead of like bing Crosby or someone just singing.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
That well. I used to spend Christmases every year with
Groats Mary, and it was like being in that movie
because Mary Wick who was in that movie would come over,
and all these people who had been in the cast
and danced in the movie would come over. So Christmas
it was like being in that movie every December.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Fantastic.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
So this show you'll do next Friday Night is about
Tony Bennett and his incredible life and career, and you're
going to run through, I would guess, some of the
highlights of his incredible run of hits.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
Yes I am, and I'm going to do some of
the lesser known things that he loved. But everything is
curated where I tell stories and put the songs in
a context. So it's not only about the music, but
it also is about his life and his philosophy. And
one day I was with Tony and I heard a
record he'd made that I hadn't heard before. I said, Tony,
that's a good song, and he said, Michael, I never
(03:01):
sang a bad song.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
I could just see his face light up when he
says that.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
Yep. Well, so we had fun together.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
You've been so great about your preserving the Great American
Songbook because you do this through so many different programs,
And that's fantastic because the songs of that era, you know,
are gonna hopefully still be around in two hundred more years.
But we need guys like you who keep breathing new
life into them.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
Oh thanks, Terry. The songs are timeless because excuse me,
it's like Shakespeare or Beethoven. It's not considered old. It's
ageless because the art still speaks to people. You know.
You see Michaelangelo's sculpture and it's still still is powerful,
you know, and that's the wonderful thing about art and music.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
But aren't you doing school programs and that sort of
thing too to make sure that younger people understand the
value of that muse from that era.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
Absolutely. You know you mentioned Karmel Well in Carmel, Indiana,
we have the Great American Songbook Foundation and every year
we have an annual high school Songbook Academy where kids
come from all over the United States to learn about
classic American popular song and it becomes another musical choice
next to the pop stuff they listen to. And it's
like planning seats because you know, once they're exposed to it,
(04:23):
they love it because it's great.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Music, Yeah, no doubt about it. And then you, as
a pianist also, you are you very persnickety about you
can't play certain types, so you have to have a
certain one in front of you.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
Well, you know, you go to a venue and you
hope that they have a great piano. I'm not like
God knows, like Horowitz, who was the greatest of the century,
and he'd always have his piano brought with him and delivered.
And as long as it's a good piano, I'm happy
to play it.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
So you don't want to do an upright in a
bar though, I mean, you've got to be about.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
I did that for so many years that you did.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
I also want to compl much fun.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
I want to compliment you on something that you did
in Carmel, and that was that Sinatra project that it
was the Sinatra Legacy.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Was that what it was called? And you did it
out of the Palladium?
Speaker 3 (05:18):
Yes, yes, I did the Sinatra Project and then I
did a sequel to that, and I did a TV
show that was broadcast I think on PBS, and that
was He was another person who was nice to me
when I when I was when I was in my twenties.
So these are all my heroes. And yeah, man, was
I lucky.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Yeah, obviously you're you're with these people who are iconic,
and I guess you you get to observe them in
real life and realize they're just regular folks too in
a certain way. The way they interact with.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
Others, that's true.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
And I was able to speak their language because I
knew the songs that they sang, and I knew some
of the songwriters who are still around. So they treated
me as an equal because I knew what was important
to their hearts.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
Interesting.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
Well, we're looking forward to this, Tony Bennett, the special
show that you have next Friday night. I know that
you've worked hard on this and people are excited about it,
I said Whitney Hall. The Kentucky Center of seven thirty
next Friday night, April eleventh, And the Louisville Orchestra, You're
just going to be thrilled with the quality of their productions.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
I love this orchestra. I haven't worked with him for
a number of years, but I'm very excited to have
the opportunity, especially with this show and some of the
amazing arrangements that they'll be playing. So it's all good.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
Okay, Well, looking forward to getting here in Louisville. It's
kind of soggy now, so we're waiting for the water
to walk away, and then by next Friday things ought
to be just dandy.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
A soggy day in Louisville. Okay, Why that's another one.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
That's for you, that's for your next album. Michael, Thanks
my pleasure, Thank you, great talking to you. Michael Feinstein's
his tribute to Tony Bennett. His next Friday Night seven
thirty Whitney Hall to Kentucky Center and you can get
tickets at Louisville Orchestra dot org
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