Bennett Handpicks His Most Definitive Works : TONY BENNETT, “I Wanna Be Around . . . “ <i> Columbia</i> *** 1/2

This is a standout entry in an imaginative new “Tony Bennett Masters Series” of albums that Bennett has put together with Columbia Records. The idea, he explains in the package, is to handpick from his body of work the albums and songs that he considers definitive.

“Whether the [retrospective] is an original album available on CD for the first time, or a collection of songs from several albums within the same time period, these are my favorites,” he writes.

Bennett certainly picked wisely here, combining 11 songs from the 1963 album “I Wanna Be Around . . . “ and seven songs from a second 1963 album, “This Is All I Ask.”

Though Bennett enjoyed his greatest success in the ‘60s with the “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” single and album, “I Wanna Be Around . . . ,” which was his follow-up studio collection, was an even more satisfying work.

Built around two hit singles (the title tune and “The Good Life”), the ballad package contained some of Bennett’s most stylish singing, as well as exquisite arrangements by Marty Manning. Bennett maintained the groove in “This Is All I Ask,” which featured arrangements by Ralph Burns and the backing of the Ralph Sharon Trio.

These records go a long way toward making you understand why Frank Sinatra calls Bennett his favorite living singer.

Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (e x cellent).