Nearly two months after her shocking death on July 23, the final video and song recorded by late British soul revivalist Amy Winehouse dropped on Wednesday, her 28th birthday, and it shows off her overwhelming talent in fine form. The duet with jazz icon Tony Bennett on the standard "Body and Soul" video features the footage of her last recording session this March at the famed Abbey Road Studios in London.The pop-jazz standard song, features the unlikely pair in a tender and often playful mood in the studio, will appear on Bennett's "Duets II" project, which is due out on next Tuesday, and Proceeds from the track's sales will go toward the Amy Winehouse Foundation, and the charity will benefit children. In the video she's clearly nervous, shuffling about but gazing admiringly at Bennett, and her voice is still a thing of wonder when it arrives for the second verse, the jazzy inflection pulling at the melody and working as the perfect counterpoint to Bennett's velvet croon.
In an interview with MTV, Bennettt said, "We had a beautiful time recording together in the studio, and I knew that Amy was very happy with how she performed that day, I thought she was absolutely brilliant." The jazz legend also praised Winehouse, saying she was "someone who knows how to intuitively improvise and make it believable and sing with humanity and soul and honesty, no compromising. Amy had that gift. She was the only one of all of the contemporary artists that I've met through the years. She's the only one that was able to do it."
The stripped-down clip opens with Bennett taking the lead as Winehouse looks on coquettishly, and then it's Winehouse's turn, as the singer known for her often shambolic live performances is seen on her best behavior. The video footage of the two singing together is bittersweet, with Winehouse looking healthy and alert, twirling her hair flirtatiously as she matches Bennett note for note on the standard. Throughout the clip, Winehouse flashes bedroom eyes at the 85-year-old crooner and patiently awaits her verses, with both singers reading their lines expertly off the sheet music. When the two vocalists embrace at the end, it's both heartwarming and bittersweet.
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