September 29, 2012 10:10

Lady Gaga to record jazz album with Tony Bennett

Crooner says the pair will team up for full-length release and hails singer as 'musical Picasso'

Photo Gallery: Lady Gaga
Photo: Pa Photos

Tony Bennett has revealed that he and Lady Gaga are planning to record a full-length jazz album together.

The pair struck up an unlikely alliance after their cover of 'The Lady Is A Tramp' was featured on Bennett's 'Duets II' album and, in an interview with Rolling Stone, the crooner revealed that he wanted to head back into the studio with the 'Bad Romance' singer to create a whole LP.

"Of all the things, she called me from New Zealand and said, 'I want to do a jazz album with you,'" Bennett said. "And I said, 'You got it!' So that's one of the things we're gonna do."

Bennett, who also said that the album would feature a catalogue of songs written by an as-yet-unnamed composer, added: "We're gonna do a jazz album with Marion Evans, a big swing band, and I'm looking forward to it because a lot of people don't know it, but she's a phenomenal jazz singer."

The singer concluded by saying he wants to start work on the album with Gaga "as soon as I can" and, when asked if they would perform live together soon, he replied: "Let's see what happens. She's a good friend and I respect that she's so creative, that every day she changes, she has so many ideas and carries them out. She just never stops with it. I call her the musical Picasso. Her energy is just phenomenal."

Gaga has been equally complimentary of Bennett in the past, too: last year she recorded and sent him a video of her wishing him a happy 85th birthday, while the singer revealed last October that the crooner had seen her naked while they were recording 'Lady Is A Tramp'.

This week Lady Gaga launched a 'Body Revolution' campaign. The singer posted a page on her Little Monsters social networking site titled 'Body Revolution 2013', encouraging fans to embrace and share their perceived flaws.

Shortly before launching the initiative Gaga addressed recent reports about her supposed weight gain, writing: "My weight/loss/gain since I was child has tormented me. No amount of help has ever healed my pain about it. But YOU have," she wrote.

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