The torch gets passed. Looking back at their role models, here are some musical figures paying their respects to those who paid their dues with standards, pop, jazz, and blues on the bandstand before them. John Pizzarelli tips his hat to the late Tony Bennett, a collection of female jazz vocalists recall their predecessors in the latest in a series of such albums, and deep-voiced "Doctor Professor" Leonard King channels the similarly timbred Joe Williams.

JOHN PIZZARELLI
DEAR MR. BENNETT
Green Hill Music
CD | Vinyl | Digital

Tony Bennett's passing a few years ago at the age of 96 marked the end of one of the very longest tenures in American popular music by a man who frequently performed live and had a prolific recording career, too. Singer and guitarist John Pizzarelli, who admired and crossed paths with him, has released an especially effective and warm tribute to the man and songs he often turned to, some of which Bennett introduced and became hits for him. Dear Mr. Bennett follows in the tradition of this always entertaining and on-target artist's earlier projects with the repertoires of Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra.

Joined by pianist Isaiah J. Thompson and bassist Mike Karn, the renditions are very satisfying, sometimes honoring the essence of the icon's way with the trademarks, sometimes going their own way. Especially satisfying are some sensitive treatments reimagining early hits from the 1950s, recorded when the singing style was more bombastic with little of the nuance and shading that would come in later years and arrangements were decidedly commercial and shmaltzy. "Rags to Riches" is enriched when it's taken seriously and gently, and the once-melodramatic "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" becomes hauntingly bittersweet with a film noir vibe. Investments of sincerity and unabashed vulnerability also allow the ardent "Because of You" to become shorn of corn; intimacy is achieved and sustained on these tracks and others.

Two selections are nods to two elegant albums by Bennett and jazz pianist Bill Evans–"Young and Foolish" from the musical Plain and Fancy and the Evans composition "Waltz for Debby" with a lyric by Gene Lees about a little girl growing up. It's not a big leap to assume that Mr. P. relates to this one, as his daughter Madeleine Pizzarelli is now an adult, pursuing her own career as a singer-songwriter. Dear Mr. Bennett's pianist is appropriately in the spotlight for the accompaniment to these two pensive vocals.

Tony Bennett projected a memorably optimistic, joyful persona and Mr. Pizzarelli and his two colleagues follow suit with choices to parade positivity and swing. That happens most blatantly with the Duke Ellington trademark "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)" and Irving Berlin's upbeat "Shakin' the Blues Away."

Four of the collection's delightful dozen are collaborations of Cy Coleman and Carolyn Leigh, with the reflective "It Amazes Me" and three in the perkier mode: "The Best Is Yet to Come," the sly "When in Rome (I Do as the Romans Do)," and the cute "Firefly" (submitted as a sample of their work and potential when they sought, but didn't get, the assignment to write the score for a Broadway musical–but that show, Gypsy, did OK for itself).

Everything works here and there's a sense of ease and respect for the honoree, comfortably following in footsteps but not being daunted by the shadow or needing to "copy." Tony Bennett's signature song, "I Left My Heart in San Francisco," feels especially nostalgic and sentimental and in the moment as sung by this East Coaster. It has plenty of heart, as does everything on Dear Mr. Bennett, a very worthy embrace of the late star's legacy.

VARIOUS ARTISTS
FLYING HIGH: STILL SOARING
A TRIBUTE TO THE VOICES THAT TAUGHT THE WORLD TO SWING
The Songbook Ink/ Jazz at The Ballroom
CD | Digital | Vinyl

There's another installment in a multi-year project with a series of recordings on the Songbook Ink label presented by the Jazz at the Ballroom company wherein this generation of female jazz-oriented vocalists honors the styles and songs of their "foremothers." Live performances are also at hand with some of the same participants. The "songbirds" past and present are in the spotlight and on our radar again in Flying High - Still Soaring: A Tribute to the Voices That Taught the World to Swing. It's the third collection, following the initial Flying High... issued in 2024 and a set with Christmas material, Swinging in the Holidays a few months ago.

While some of the pages of history being bookmarked coincide with the "Big Band Era" when the singers saluted here were often the only women on the bandstand and touring with the men in the orchestras, the accompaniment here is more modest, with just a few instrumentalists, with all tracks presenting Miss Fulton at the keyboard, while the male musicians are bassists Buster Williams and Neal Miner, drummers Fukushi Tainaka and Charles Ruggiero, with guest appearances by Klas Lindquist, the alto saxophonist and clarinetist who has performed prominently with Champian Fulton and recently became her fiancé. We also hear trumpet on two tracks that are particular winners–the bouncy opener, "S'posin'," and "It's Been a Long, Long Time," the Jule Styne/Sammy Cahn World War II ballad–since they're assigned to singer Bria Skonberg, who also plays that instrument.

Note that women songwriters are also represented on Still Soaring. There's the welcome inclusion of the moody "Lullaby of the Leaves" by Bernice Petkere (music) and JoeYoung (lyric), which gets a sublime, atmospheric treatment by Carmen Bradford, alumna of the Count Basie Orchestra. Two other items were co-written by women: "Good Morning Heartache" (Irene Higginbotham, Ervin Drake, and Dan Fisher), a signature song for iconic jazz vocalist Billie Holiday, gets a fine but not too gloomy interpretation by Tahira Clayton; and one of the fine Fulton features is "Just for a Thrill," written by Don Raye and Lil Armstrong and first recorded by the latter and her Swing Orchestra.

Adding variety, there is one instrumental-only track with the pleasing Fulton/Lindquist sprint through "If Dreams Come True" (note that the vinyl version does not have this track or "Lullaby of the Leaves"). The fondness for these strolls down musical Memory Lanes comes through most directly when Nicole Zuraitis, in her one appearance, cozies up to "Sentimental Journey," but, like all the ladies on these worthy recordings, adds her own sensibilities and fresh flavors.

PLANET D NONET PRESENTS
DOCTOR PROFESSOR LEONARD KING
IN TRIBUTE TO JOE WILLIAMS
Eastlawn Records
CD | Vinyl |Digital

Here's a live album featuring the singer billed as "Doctor Professor" Leonard King taking on material associated with a vocalist sometimes called the king of the blues due to his mastery of that genre: the gentlemanly Joe Williams. Accompanied by the instrumental group Planet D Nonet (the "D" stands for their home base of Detroit), there are nine tracks, mostly on the lengthy side, and some patter about the material and Williams. Like the man he's tributing, Mr. King has a deep baritone with rolling tones and an easy command of the material and styles. It includes three songs that Williams wrote himself ("Who She Do," "Young Man on the Way Up," "Some of This 'n' Some of That"), mostly eschewing more famous fare such as the career-long signature song "Every Day I Have the Blues" and standards during Mr. W.'s tenure in the 1950s with the Count Basie Band. A couple more widely known numbers familiar to more general music fans would make the set more accessible beyond its most obvious target audience, but the assertive program and energy do grab the ear. "Detour Ahead" is probably the most exposed, having been recorded by well over 200 performers since 1949, such as Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan, and Melissa Errico.

As with the vocalist here, the dynamic instrumental group has that desired authentic feel that makes them sound confidently at home with the material, both the mellow and the funkier, hard-driving stuff. Arrangements are tight, with some hard swing. Extended solos by the three brass men and the three sax players are especially powerful, wailing in the best sense, as the singer similarly projects strength and catharsis. The audience responds enthusiastically.

Those of us who appreciated the persona and performances of Joe Williams are heartened to know that his style and taste are still being echoed beyond his lifetime, like other singers of his generation. (He shared a birthday with Frank Sinatra, born exactly three years after Ol' Blue Eyes; this past week marked the 27th anniversary of his death, the year after Sinatra's passing.) The vitality on this tribute album keeps its blues from being mainly mournful or mopey; the performers suggest, instead, resilience and a modicum of humor. It's in the right spirit for its agenda of being a tribute.