The late great Tony Bennett recorded a duet with Lady Gaga years ago and immediately got the whole picture: she’s an extraordinary jazz singer.
The idea seemed odd to all of us who knew Gaga from her “Fame” album, hit singles, and meat dresses.
But Tony knew, and they went to to make two albums together and tour the world.
Now Gaga’s silky tones are caressing 11 song standards and two original numbers for her “Harlequin” album, soundtrack to “Joker: Folie a Deux,” coming this week.
It won’t matter if the movie is good or bad. The album is phenomenal and will be a big player at the Grammy Awards. Along with her hit Bruno Mars duet, “Die with a Smile,” Gaga has snatched all the attention away from a dozen or so chanteuses who thought they had the year locked up.
“Harlequin” went straight to number 1 on Friday morning’s iTunes chart and will stay there for some time.
Gaga has two original songs on this album of covers: “Happy Mistake”and “Folie a Deux.” The rest are covers of jazz standards, the kind she recorded with Tony Bennett. So how will she make money from the sales of “Harlequin” since publishing — writing the songs — is where you get revenue?
The answer is, she’s added her name to the credits of four of the songs. And not just hers, but her fiancee, Michael Polansky, a tech investor heretofore not known for his songwriting ability. They’ve attached their names to Nacio Herb Brown’s “Good Morning,” Harold Arlen’s “Get Happy,” the traditional song, “Oh When the Saints,” and Cy Coleman’s “If My Friends Could See Me Now.”
It’s very unusual for old songs to get added writers unless the recording artist obtained a license to sample it. But Cy Coleman’s publisher says that hasn’t happened.
