From Seal and Diana Ross to the Ravinia debut of Paul Simon, it would seem that there is more to Kauffman’s continued success than just a few well-timed connections. While Kauffman, himself a classical music lover and pianist, says 65 percent of this summer’s lineup is classical, befitting the notfor-profit festival’s mission, the non-classical offerings continue to impress. “They then told John Mayer, and that’s how we got him,” Kauffman explains adding, “Santana himself also eventually came around and so did his audience-performing last August on a sold out tour.” When Grammy Award-winner Rob Thomas of Matchbox Twenty sold out Ravinia a few years ago, word got back to the once skeptical Santana.
She was completely and entirely through her fiancé, and of course, Tony Bennett.” Kauffman says, “the non-classical music heavy hitters like Lady Gaga often come through word of mouth. Before long, Kauffman was booking acts like Maroon 5, Wyclef Jean, Demi Lovato and this year’s Chris Cornell. The show sold out immediately, and booking agents took notice. His big breakthrough with non-classical came with the unlikely booking of Norah Jones at the exact moment when she was high on the charts with multiple Grammy wins. So Kauffman shrugged Santana’s words off and moved forward, using his connections and his belief in the venue to book a robust summer roster of A-list mainstream and pop stars to counter the classical music favorites by such acclaimed conductors as James Levine, Christoph Eschenbach, and James Conlon. Ravinia was Chicago Symphony Orchestra in summer with picnic baskets on the lawn and genteel evenings-not a gritty rock fest. So, Santana’s words were not surprising, given that Ravinia’s national reputation for variety and a historical 50/50 mix of classical to non-classical music grew more rooted in world-class orchestras than mainstream rock and roll. “But as the classical programming continued to feature the brightest talents in the world, for about 30 years, we lost our way a bit on the nonclassical side, allowing it to get pretty dusty.” “From the beginning Ravinia presented a mix of classical concerts and the cutting-edge acts of the time, whether it was Benny Goodman introducing a mixed-race band in the 1940s to Janis Joplin and Frank Zappa in the 1970s,” Kauffman said. The year was 2000, and Kauffman had just taken the reins at the legendary Highland Park music festival with a vision to build on the historic venue’s proud legacy of presenting a wide variety of great concerts. Nothing personal, he said, just that “my audience won’t come.” Notes: The June 9th, 2015 concert at Royal Albert Hall was cancelled due to Tony becoming ill with the flu.Carlos Santana once told Welz Kauffman that he’d never play Ravinia. Royal Albert Hall (A Gala Evening in Support of WellChild)
But anyone who has heard these two true professionals sing together knows that it just works". He finished saying "it seems like an odd pairing. Mark also noted that "the two stars might be decades apart in age, but they’re both at the top of their game now". He didn't spare on praise, claiming their vocals and customs. Writing for Las Vegas Weekly, Mark Adams gave a positive review, saying "every performance was flawless". He was impressed with Gaga and Bennett's potencial vocals, stating the concert "charmingly effective in showing off the talents of both artists on a stage simply decorated with crystal-studded curtains".
Marc Graser from Variety called Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett as "perfect dance partners". Many of the tour's shows are a part of music festivals, such as the Ravinia Festival, the Copenhagen Jazz Festival, the North Sea Jazz Festival, and the Gent Jazz Festival.
The tour, which began with a two-night run at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, is scheduled to play a total of twenty two shows across Europe and North America during the first half of 2015, and is expected to expand as the tour progresses. The Cheek to Cheek Tour is a co-headlining tour by American singers Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga in support of their album Cheek to Cheek (2014).
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