Tony Bennett: Remembering the night Belfast welcomed legendary singer

“Hey, kid! Where do you want me?”

Ranking alongside Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin as the finest interpreters of the Great American Songbook, Bennett entertained audiences at Belfast’s Ulster Hall in April 1996.

Producer Mike Edgar had managed to persuade the legendary singer’s management to allow this rare recording.

The singer and his band were introduced by presenter John Bennett, who recalls this most memorable evening on the famous old stage.

For both BBC veterans, this was a night they would never forget.

They say you should never meet your hero.

If I had taken that advice I would not have interviewed one of the giants of popular music.

I would not have discovered that his brother and I shared a name, and he would not have invited me to introduce him on stage at The Ulster Hall.

My producer, Mike Edgar, somehow persuaded his record management to allow Radio Ulster to record the show and afterwards we shared a drink with him in his dressing room before he kicked off his shoes, pulled off his tie and chatted at length about his career, his music and his life.

A pleasant, humble man who just happened to be a legend.

So perhaps you should never meet your hero – unless he happens to be Tony Bennett.

Tony Bennett – Live at the Ulster Hall Belfast will live long in my memory on multiple levels.

To start with, I could not quite believe that we had landed an interview with Tony down the line from New York in advance of the Belfast show.

If you’re a music lover, and a young producer, as I was at that time, dreams are made of moments such as these.

I remember waiting for Tony at the stage door of the Ulster Hall so that we could do a sound check.

He pulled up in a chauffeur-driven black Mercedes and jumped out wearing a classic Italian black fedora hat with a long, black cashmere coat draped over his shoulders.

Nothing could have looked more impressive or indeed fashionable.

The New York-Italian Tony Bennett had presence and style, and he sure knew how to make an entrance.

He looked me square in the eye and, with a very welcoming smile, shouted: “Hey, kid! Where do you want me?”

Trembling, I escorted him to the stage and ran through a couple of numbers with his band, the legendary Ralph Sharon trio.

After two songs he turned to me and said: “Hey Mike, was this an old preaching hall at any stage? It has absolutely brilliant acoustics.”

That was my cue to fill Tony in on a 150-year history that had seen more than a bit of preaching, singing and dancing which earned the hall the nickname of The Grand Dame.

It was at this point Tony turned to us and said: “I love this place. Let’s turn off all the microphones so I can try singing without the PA and see how it works in the room.”

Needless to say, with its wooden floors and high ceilings, the acoustic was incredible.

Tony went on to perform two songs later that night in exactly that fashion, much to the appreciation of a hall that had them practically hanging from the rafters.

I have had the very great privilege of working in live music all my life, and after over 40 years I would rank this show as one of the greatest I have ever been at, and one of the finest recordings of a show ever by a wonderful sound engineer John Lunn.

It was not a complex show, featuring a small drum kit, an acoustic bass player, a pianist and a singer.

However, these four people created musical magic that just connected with an audience like nothing I had ever seen, and with a songbook that wrapped around you with familiar warmth that left you wanting more.

The hall was jam-packed with fans that had followed Tony over the decades, but interestingly, also a smattering of younger people that had discovered him through his appearances on a fledgling new world of MTV.

To quote Frank Sinatra: “For my money Tony Bennett is the best singer in the business, the best exponent of a song.

“He excites me when I watch him – he moves me.

“He’s the singer who gets across what the composer has in mind, and probably a little more.”

Those few words from Sinatra just about cover it. Tony Bennett was a very special man and a beautiful gift to the world of music.

After the show he invited John and I back to his dressing room where he kicked off his shoes, and chatted a little further over a small Irish whiskey – or maybe two.

Bennett was known for songs such as The Way You Look Tonight, Body and Soul and (I Left My Heart) In San Francisco, while in recent years had a successful duet album with Lady Gaga.

He was also recognised with a lifetime achievement award and won 20 Grammys.

The Ulster Hall in Belfast has had some magical evenings.

It was the first place that Led Zeppelin played Stairway to Heaven, and has welcomed everyone from The Rolling Stones to Charles Dickens.

But in my mind this visit in 1996, from the man born as Anthony Dominick Benedetto, has to rank right up with the best of them.