1975 may've been an OK year for some kinds of American music, but there were two now-legendary figures who weren't exactly "Top o' the world, Ma." Jazz-oriented song stylist extraordinaire Tony Bennett was without a major record label deal and Bill Evans, while considered a "jazz giant," was somewhat taken for granted -- and this was the era of fusion's ascendance (and factor in the avant-garde camp, which actually had more "potential" to reach rock audiences) so Evans' comparatively mellow style wasn't exactly "hip." Maybe that's why they got together for this extremely atypical session, probably more for each other than more the marketplace: just voice and piano. Evans is usually heard in the trio context; Bennett (in the 60s & 70s) with an orchestra -- here, they're not only "unplugged," they're nearly naked. It makes for a heady combination, awesome in its simplicity and subtlety: Bennett's ample, musicianly voice, capable of booming gracefully and tender quietude is coupled with Evans' gentle, minimalist (making T. Monk sound like Oscar Peterson), cerebral-but-never-staid pianism, and the result is breathtaking. Each can "explore" the farthest reaches of these Great American Songbook classics, wringing them for all they're worth without ever going over-the-top. In fact, these hepcats have reversed the "formula": Bennett, with That Big Voice of His (he hadn't got that adorable "rasp" that he has these days) "is" the orchestra, and Evans, the quiet, impressionistic melodist, "is" the singer. I don't know that I'd recommend this gem as an "intro" to either gent, but for those smitten, or simply curious what Evans sounds like accompanying a singer and Bennett with only one accompanist, this new, limited-ed. 20-bit mastered version of The Tony Bennett/Bill Evans Album is a must-have. [PS: August 16 was the 75th anniversary of Bill Evans' birth.]