I Wanna Be Around: Piano/Vocal/Chords

This folio captures the essence of Bennett's duets album, pairing legendary standards with chord charts and lyrics that make them accessible for pianists and singers at all levels. The repertoire itself serves as a masterclass in songcraft—every tune here rewards careful attention to phrasing, harmonic nuance, and the emotional architecture that makes these songs timeless. Programming a recital around selections from this collection signals to your audience that you're serious about the Great American Songbook and the vocalists who've made it sacred.

These songs evoke the sophistication of mid-century nightclubs, the warmth of intimate venues, and the elegance of singers who understood that the lyric must always come first. The arrangements support rather than overshadow the vocal line, creating space for storytelling while maintaining the harmonic and melodic integrity that made these compositions endure for generations.

This folio works beautifully for vocalists and pianists preparing for recitals, auditions, or casual performances of standards; it's equally valuable for singers and pianists who want to deepen their understanding of how to interpret classic American songs. Educators can use individual selections to teach students about phrasing, harmonic language, and the craft of accompaniment. Anyone who wants to explore the songwriting of composers like Johnny Mercer, Jerry Herman, and Cole Porter in their most elegant and recorded settings will find a comprehensive resource here.

• Study the harmonic movement carefully before diving into full performances; these arrangements reward pianists who understand the logic of each chord change and can voice them with intention.
• Listen to Bennett's interpretations on the album to grasp his approach to phrasing and breath placement, then adapt those insights to your own performance style rather than copying them directly.
• Balance the role of the piano part with the vocalist's line; these songs thrive when accompaniment and voice breathe together, neither dominating but both supporting the narrative arc of the lyric.
• Pay attention to the lyrics as a guide to tempo and dynamics; each song has an emotional trajectory that should inform how you shape the music from introduction through final phrase.

Frame a recital entirely around selections from this collection to showcase the depth of the American Songbook; the variety of styles and moods means you can build a complete concert arc within a single source. Alternatively, cherry-pick individual songs to pair alongside contemporary or classical repertoire, using the standards as a bridge between musical worlds. For teaching purposes, select songs that illustrate specific compositional techniques or harmonic concepts you want your students to internalize.

• Reading and interpreting chord symbols and lead-line notation
• Phrasing and breath placement in sung melodic lines
• Harmonic voicing at the piano with awareness of extensions and substitutions
• Understanding the relationship between lyric meaning and musical expression
• Sight-reading and transposition for flexible performance contexts