Tony Bennett and k.d. lang

If you were among the people who thought k.d. lang’s duet with the late Roy Orbison was as good as it gets, you were right—but this collection of mellow collaborations comes damn close. Tony Bennett is smooth, but he doesn’t quite match lang note for note on these old favorites. Bennett’s somewhat rough on the low notes of “La Vie en Rose” and a bit shaky on the high notes of “What a Wonderful World,” but, rather than detracting from the song, it produces the intimate feeling of eavesdropping on a jam session between friends. The intergenerational crooners do a turn on “Dream a Little Dream of Me” that puts even the Mama Cass version to shame, and both “I’m Confessin’ ” and “I Wonder” really shine as well. Some of the patter is over the top in terms of irony, but if they’ve both got their tongues planted firmly in cheek, it certainly hasn’t hurt the music any.