After the guest-star extravaganza Playin' with My Friends and the k.d. lang duets album What a Wonderful World, Tony Bennett goes his own way, settling into a mellow groove with The Art of Romance. Slow- and midtempo from top to bottom, Romance partakes mostly of deep-dish orchestral takes of classics (three by Johnny Mandel; two by Johnny Mercer). The end-of-the-affair "Where Do You Start" is the disc's quiet heart-stopper, while memories of happier days are conjured by Mercer's "Time to Smile" and the wry Mandel/Dave Frishberg "Little Did I Dream." Perfect fall listening, alone or with a partner, this proves one of the richest albums of the singer's late-career renaissance. --Rickey Wright
