As promised, on what would have been her 28th birthday, Amy Winehouse’s duet with Tony Bennett (off his upcoming Duets II) debuted on BBC Radio 2 this morning. The song, a cover of the jazz standard “Body and Soul,” was recorded in March, and the accompanying music video uses footage from that session — it’s mostly shots of Amy glancing shyly at Bennett while he reads from the lyric sheet, but in general, Amy seems present and focused on her performance. (Certainly, her Duets II session went better than Gaga’s.) The singing backs this up; “Body and Soul” isn’t as energetic or emotional a song as we came to expect from Winehouse, but it does make room for Amy to show off her still-undeniable vocal chops. That “Body and Soul” was her last opportunity to do so is part of a larger tragedy, but it’s at least heartening to see her back in form, as Winehouse the Musician rather than Winehouse the Tabloid Star. Her talent deserves as much.
