2018 · Album
Love Is Here to Stay
Released: September 14, 2018 · Labels: Verve Records and Columbia Records · Featured Group: The Bill Charlap Trio
Two Voices, One Room, No Pretense
Bennett and Krall let the Bill Charlap Trio breathe, trading solos like old friends who know exactly when to step back.
Love Is Here to Stay arrived when Tony Bennett was in his nineties and Diana Krall was at the height of her powers—a pairing that could have felt like a nostalgia project, but instead sounds like two musicians simply enjoying each other's company. The album features the New York-based Bill Charlap Trio as the backbone, which matters because Charlap's piano style is conversational rather than showy. He doesn't fill every space or grab attention; he listens and responds. That restraint sets the tone for everything that happens around it.
The recording choices here are smart and unglamorous. There's no oversized orchestration, no attempt to make Bennett sound younger or Krall sound more "classic." Instead, the album lets both singers inhabit standards they clearly know inside out—songs like the title track and others from the Great American Songbook. Krall's piano playing sits naturally alongside her vocals, and Bennett's voice, weathered and direct, carries the weight of someone who has spent seventy years understanding these melodies. The interplay between them is the point. When one singer takes a verse, the other listens. When Charlap solos, both of them give him room to say something.
This is a solid late-career collaboration that works because nobody involved was trying to prove anything. Critics responded well to its straightforwardness—Glide Magazine and The Spill Magazine both rated it highly. It's not a reinvention and doesn't need to be. If you're already familiar with both artists' work, this album is worth hearing for how naturally they share space. If you're new to either of them, you might start elsewhere first—try Bennett's Bill Evans Sessions (1980) or Krall's Live in Paris (2002) to understand what each brings on their own.
Who's playing
Peter Washingtondouble bass
Bill Charlappiano
Kenny Washingtondrums
