“From the moment that I first met Hal Batt, I saw in him sensitivity to the music and devotion to perfection. He has great ideas as to what should be done for the voice and for who the artist is. He has an uncanny ability to do that,” says Bennett.
Bennett first hooked up with Batt in the early 1980’s about the same time as she started working with Lionel Hampton. She recorded Sentimental Journey with Hampton, a record which featured swing music from the 1930’s and ‘40’s. During the same period of time she recorded, the dance record, You’re My Fantasy, with Batt.
Bennett talks about recording the Gershwins’, “They Can’t Take That Away From Me,” “I look at that song and I say to myself, if you are in love with somebody today, and even if tomorrow they are not in your life, they can’t take away that time that you had together. That’s one way of looking at that song. Another way of looking at that song is the time that I spent with Lionel Hampton. They can’t take away that time from me, because it is so precious. That is what that song means to me.”
Bennett’s ability to express the many passions and moods of love comes through in another way, as she sings, another Gershwin tune, “Someone To Watch Over Me.” She says, “When you sing, “Someone To Watch Over Me,” you think of that person saying, ‘I just want someone to watch over me, someone that I can care about, someone that I can wake up to in the morning, and with whom I can share the day, and share the moment. Please send me someone. He doesn’t have to be the most handsome; I just want him to have a beautiful heart.’ That’s what this song says to me.”
“All of the songs were picked, because they say something about love, wanting love, having love, losing love and wanting love again. As time goes by, the world will always welcome lovers, because love is such a strong emotion. I think that all of us need love,” says Bennett.
Bennett chooses sassy, to express love through a great interpretation of “Fats” Waller’s “Ain’t Misbehavin’.” As Jeff Gehringer, the Program Director for KSPA/KFSD, in Anaheim, California says, “She has a unique ability to relate a lyric that affects our audience. She’s an oasis from the troubles in the world.”
I know this is sacrilege, but the song, “Ain’t Misbehavin’,” is usually a tune, that for me is not the straw that stirs the drink, but Bennett takes “Ain’t Misbehavin,’”out of its usual cabaret context, retains the flirtatious intention, and adds an air of sophistication.
“This is a light song that says, ‘I ain’t misbehavin’ because I am saving all of my love for you.’ It says I am through with flirting. It is a happy song, it is upbeat and it is playful. Singing, “I Ain’t Misbehavin,” live is really fun, because then I can really flirt,” says Bennett.
After recording, There Will Never Be Another You, in 2006, an album which served as a tribute to Lionel Hampton, Batt suggested that the next project for Bennett should have a small band and have a romantic feel to it. That project became Bennett’s current CD which features the trio of tenor saxophonists, Boots Randolph, Ed Calle and Kirk Whalum.
“I am a hopeless romantic, and I like love songs. Besides having the joy of meeting Lionel, I also had the privilege of working with the late, great saxophone player Boots Randolph. I opened a show for him on a cruise ship, and that led to a recording project. He was the first tenor saxophonist that we wanted on the record. Hal has a good friend, Ed Calle, who he feels is one of the very best, tenor saxophonists in the world. Hal said let’s get Ed in, and Ed was able to get Kirk Whalum,” Bennett says, in recalling her reaction to Batt’s suggestion.
Perhaps the reasons that Sylvia Bennett gave for including the song, “My Funny Valentine,” on her current CD, best describe her approach to music and to life, “When you name your record, Songs From The Heart, there isn’t any better song that describes your heart, than, “My Funny Valentine.” I think that a lot of people sing it just for Valentine’s Day, but with me being a hopeless romantic, I think that Valentine’s Day should be celebrated every day of the year.”
June 2008
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