Indeed the album and the songs chosen for Aiello’s concert are a tribute to artists like Sinatra deeply admired by the actor turned musician. Thanking “all the artists whose memorable performance[s] have impacted so many lives including my own… [and]… those songwriters whose words have helped create a beautiful soundtrack to my life story,” in the liner notes, he begins the album with the pointed choice “All Of Me,” which announces not only Aiello’s style but his intention to serve himself up fully for the enjoyment of the audience. And although he admits that as a singer it’s an “avocation” not a vocation as he’s primarily an actor—earning Emmy and Oscar nominations and acclaim for his memorable turns in everything from Moonstruck to Do the Right Thing to the Madonna video “Papa Don’t Preach,” Aiello eases into the roughly hour long live concert with humor and self-deprecation. In between songs such as “I’m Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter” before launching into the Louis Prima like fast-paced “Pennies From Heaven,” he riffs with the audience, telling stories about his life and background whether it was spending just a half an hour in high school to enlisting in the army at seventeen or working as a bouncer, along with sharing an endless appreciation for his wife of more than fifty years, Sandy. Sharing that he loves “those sexy songs,” he rips into “Besame Mucho” with soul. And although he frequently shares his own fan-like adoration of the artists who performed the quintessential versions of the tracks like his musical idol Bobby Darin, for whom he performs the record's two final songs “Beyond The Sea” and “Clementine,” his own versions of the works are helping to encourage a new generation as well. You can witness this revelation via the following YouTube clip wherein Aiello performs with rapper Hasan in a “Mucho” remix.
While you can listen to two of the album's tracks here via Windows — “All Of Me,” and “Pennies From Heaven”-- the disc works at its best as one big concert with each track and anecdote flowing right into the next. While I only wished it would’ve been recorded on DVD as well, Aiello is a tremendous entertainer and one who seems like in addition to his many other career twists and turns, would’ve made quite a gifted writer in his own right. Given his background in acting, he adds a depth and character to the music we know so well, most evident in “I’m Confessing (That I Love You)” as he walks away from the standard easygoing Chet Baker style of the piece and tells a tongue-in-cheek anecdote making endless excuses for a most likely dalliance completely in the character of the song.
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