good evening, i am tavis smiley from los angeles. we taped programming in new york city, we sat down with tony bennett. at 90 years young, he is as vibrant and productive as ever. he sat down with us to talk about the sell bragds -- celebrf his 90th year. a conversation with tony bennett, coming up right now.

by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ >> to quote the title of his recent book, he is just getting started. tony bennett released a new book and new album. televised a concert in honor of his birthday. a clip from his televised special, tony bennett celebrates

90. >> i don't care if it is up town or up on riverside. >> i don't have any reasons ♪ ♪ left them all behind ♪ we're in a new york state of mind ♪ ♪ i get excited every time i see you do this. that nbc special was something special. >> thank you very much. >> it was amazing. >> how did it feel to have all of those stars show up to celebrate you on your 90th? >> unbelievable. amazing, all the great artists performing on my 90th birthday. and i am just getting started.

>> you must get asked this all the time. we had these conversations before. how is it that you still sound that way? how do you keep that instrument together? >> i love what i am doing, i always have. as early as a very young person, i knew i loved to sing for people. i feel that way right now. i still have a lot to learn. >> no, you don't. >> really. >> what are you learning at 90? >> the fact that audiences have been so good to me through the years. i feel completely content about performing for them. i feel like i can get better. i am enjoying my life very much.

>> i don't know if i have ever told you this on national television, since you mentioned how good the audiences have been to you over the years, i noted the first time i saw you in concert. i have honored to see you so many times, i noticed after every song, you take your microphone, tuck it under your arm and applaud the audience. then you pull it back out, say a few words, go on to the next song. i have never seen an artist, certainly not one of your stature, who on stage, shows the appreciationon for the audience by clapping for them by every song. >> they have been wonderful to me. i try to make people feel good. when it is starting to happen, i

get moved on stage. they are enjoying themselves, forgetting their problems. it is a wonderful profession. i love to perform, i love to make people feel good. that is my whole game. trying to help people feel good while i am on stage. >> where or how did you develop this appreciation for the audience? in the way you have it? every audience appreciates a fan base, you have a sort of kenetic connection with your audience, how did that develop? >> when i came out of the army in the second world war, i joined the american theater wing. it was a wonderful experience. they told me never to compromise and only stay with kwaultd. it had been a personal war to do

quality music. every producer wants to sell music immediately. i believe their attitude is wrong. don't give them anything too intelligent, i am the opposite of that. i found out my mom was my biggest influence. i remember clearly one day, she was making dress says, to feed three children, my father died. she said, don't have me work on a bad dress. that sentence changed my career. i decided i would never sing a cheap song just to get a hit song.

i decided to stay with quality. by doing that, i ended up falling in love with the great american song book. that fred astaire was responsible for. everybody wrote the best songs for him. cole porter, the greatest composures wrote for fred astaire. to this day, two people i love so much, to watch and be entertained by, is fred astaire and sally chaplin. >> to this day? >> those two artists. they knew how to do it. >> i am from indiana, as is cole porter, he is the pride of indiana, i grew up listening to

cole porter. >> he was the best. >> one of the best. >> you mentioned earlier, you perhapsed only to do quality stuff, didn't want to do something because a producer begged you to do it to get a quick hit. you have been true to who you are, and your artistically. what makes a great song? great song writers, like smoky robinson, what to them makes a great song. you are an interpreter of the song book. >> the best example is, a composure by the name of irving berlin. he knew how to do it. every time he wrote a song, it was simple, and profound at the same time. very lasting. you never get tired of hearing a

great irving berlin song. >> simple, profound and lasting. part of the ingredients of a great song for you. >> you had a lot of collaborations. you have been hanging out with lady gaga. the white house. >> she is wonderful. >> you have collaborated with so many. what is it about collaborations that you enjoy? it is the individual talents. certain people have. they knew how to do it. lady gaga, she doesn't even realize to this day how great she really s i think she will be around for a long time. i think she will do very well in films, she is a wonderful person, very honest. and very educated.

she plays wonderful piano. she composes. she records. more than anything else, the public adores her. they love her. i think hopefully, she will be around for a very long time. and be very popular. >> you mentioned lady gag aperhaps during a film into the future. which raises the question, there have been so many great artistsis, they start out acting, then started singing, or started out singing, started acting, this, that, the other. obviously, you are a great painter. when did you start painting? >> sevener eight years old. >> that young? >> my father died.

my teleatives, help my mom out. she had to raise three children. we were very poor. my relatives would come over to make her feel good. and i was always so grateful that they were so nice to her. they were the ones that told me, we love the way you paint, and we love the way you sing. i said, that is who i am. it it was a wonderful thing that came from my own family. they were good to my mom. >> they encouraged you to do more participating? >> they said, we love the way you paint and the way you sing. i said, that is who i am. to this day, it is i have been

studying, to paint and sing. i love it. >> have you slowed down on painting? >> no, i paint every day. >> every day? >> every day. >> you make me feel like a slacker. you are getting up there every day. >> i watch you every night. you paint every day. man. and do you paint different things, when you get up to panlt every day, you pick up a paint brush and just go? >> i live across the street from central park. in the heart of manhattan. my boss, my god is nature. it is everything.

nature is unbelievable. the more you study it, the more you can't -- we are just a student of nature. nature is the boss. it tells us just what to do. >> i hear you. what not to do. i got you. you look out the window at central park, you get ip spired to do something. >> exactly right. that is what i do. i live across the street from central panchlth right there is nature. nature it makes me realize, to follow it is fabulous to keep

watching nature. that is the boss, that is the master participator. nature. >> do you paint on the road? just when you are home? >> i paint everywhere. >> wherever you are. pull out your brushes? >> yes. >> do you sketch? >> do all of it. study anatomy, people, and composition. it is a wonderful way to live. you weren't joking, knowing you,

when you said, i am just getting started, you meant that. is there anything moussically, anything moussically, that you haven't done. >> i hear you about the painting, you look out the window, you see something in nature. inspires you to do something new. i get that about the painting, anything moussically at 90, you haven't done yet? >> that is a good question. there is an automatic search about that. i don't know yet. i like to get involved. i met a brand new trumpet player from queens that is fantastic. he is subtle and melodic, and very muted. not like a loud trumpet.

it is the most honor performing, you think for the second, the moment. how you feel at that particular moment. it is a great experiencewnñ how they feel that moment. >> when you meet the right person, and it is organic and just kind of happens? >> yes. >> what do you hope your audiences have taken away from seeing you all these years. you talk about the joy they give you, what do you hope to take

away from their performances? >> i can't tell you how thrilled, when you first start, it starts nine years to take on, whatatatat to leave in. i can't figure it out. i just love to make people feel good. when i walk out on the stage, i want everybody to feel good. when they feel good, i walk away feeling content. i made them forget their problem for that one hour on stage. >> exactly. are there night whs you walk off the stage, when you feel like you were not in tip top shape? do you ever feel that way?

or do you say, i killed it again tonight? >> i like it. i can't wait to get out there. i love it. >> on the nights when you don't feel like are you in perfect pitch or voice, when you don't feel -- >> i don't show up. >> i love that. >> if you are not at a 10, you don't go on stage. i love that, i remember that line for as long as i live. if i am not on the top of my game, i don't show up. i have to get myself today after that. tell me about your ni90th tribu cd. >> there are a lot of great performers i am involved with on this album. i haven't heard it yet.

i know there is a lot of good stuff in it i have done through the years. >> at this point in your career, i don't get tired of i won't release it. >> you are happy with the way you sound. you are happy -- >> very good training. at the american theater wing, when i came out of the army, i joined the american theory wing. they taught me l never compromise. do everything quality. never cheat the public, give them quality, quality, quality. >> you have done it for 90 years. >> i want to close referencing your book. by scott simon. i love all of the art.

all the art done by mr. bennett himself. it is full of art, number two, i love how this book tells the stories of your friendships and your relayingships, all kinds of people in your life. looking at the names, the ella fitzgerald. >> she was my neighbor. >> jackie kennedy. frank sinat ra. the time you spent doctor king, harry told me to do when he told me, they were prejudice d, and t

changed my life. >> looking back on your life, for all you accomplished moussically, it has to be one of the high points in your life. when the country needed you, you stepped up. >> describing the trag dees. i don't want to fight. >> if you need my help. i will be there. >> tell me what is go being on, i am go with you. united states have been a the stories underscore that.

giving us a lot of i appreciate it. >> tony bennett, in his book, just out not long ago. i don't know how it works, if you didn't see that n bmbc spec? find a it should win. >> thank you, sir. >> talking about his art work, see the xft for paily center, something you can support. thanks for tuning n keep the

faith.

♪ ♪ i left my heart in san francisco ♪ ♪ >> you am tavis smiley, join me for an interview of john ridley. and a performance. we will see you then.

steves: salzburg's cathedral, constructed in the early 1600s, was one of the first grand baroque buildings north of the alps. it's sunday morning. the 10:00 mass is famous for its music, and today it's mozart. enter the cathedral, and you're immersed in pure baroque grandeur. ♪ dona nobis ♪ ♪ nobis pacem ♪ since it was built in only about 15 years, the church boasts particularly harmonious art and architecture. in good baroque style, the art is symbolic, cohesive, and theatrical, creating a kind of festival procession that leads to the resurrected christ triumphing high above the altar. ♪ nobis ♪ ♪ dona nobis ♪ ♪ nobis pacem ♪ ♪ pacem ♪ music and the visual art complement each other. the organ loft fills the church with glorious sounds

as mozart, 250 years after his birth, is still powering worship with his musical genius. ♪ nobis ♪ ♪ nobis pacem ♪ ♪ nobis ♪ ♪ pacem ♪

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