Pioneers of jazz, longtime friends, and performers, Tony Bennett and Dave Brubeck only have one recorded performance together and it was a spur of the moment, once in a lifetime event.

On August 29, 1962, the Kennedy administration organized a concert at the Sylvan Theater on the grounds of the Washington Monument as a token of appreciation for the corps of college students who had summer internships in the capital.  It featured separate sets by Mr. Bennett – who had just released I Left My Heart In San Francisco, and the Brubeck quartet, one of the most popular jazz groups in the country.  At the end of the concert, Mr. Bennett joined members of the quartet for four songs – totally unrehearsed.  The full concert lasted about an hour and was recorded, but it somehow was lost in Sony Records’ vaults.  It wasn’t until Dave Brubeck’s death in December 2012, that Mr. Bennett recalled the concert and that prompted Sony Music’s archivists to search for the recording.

The CD,Bennett/Brubeck:  The White House Sessions, Live 1962, has just been released and is available for your listening pleasure from the Cheshire Library.         

Other music CDs by both Mr. Bennett and Mr. Brubeck can be found in the library’s Jazz section.  Mr. Brubeck’s newest CD is The Best of Dave Brubeck.

Mr. Bennett has a new biography called Life Is A Gift, also available at the Cheshire Library.

Mr. Bennett was recently interviewed on CBS This Morning.  You can watch that interview here.