Album Review: Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga - Cheek To Cheek

Cheek To Cheek is a desperate attempt to make Tony Bennett’s jazz more appealing to contemporary audiences and keep Lady Gaga’s career alive. The pairing, however, fails to make anything exciting out of a genre that has long been relegated to the cultural side-stage of Broadway musicals. The production is sterile and emotionless and songs like It Don’t Mean A Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing) and Goody Goody are so rushed it seems Bennett and Gaga were frightened of boring listeners with the pleasures of slow-paced, sincere jazz.