Still Full of Surprises

Here’s something you won’t find in “The Good Life,” Tony Bennett’s new autobiography: his earliest memories of Christmas growing up in a four-room apartment in Astoria Queens, New York.

“It was very beautiful. We were a strict Catholic family, a very Christian family, so it was a very important holiday,” he said by phone from Manhattan. “And I remember waking up in the morning and seeing the Christmas tree and the presents. My brother and sister and I were so excited we couldn’t get to sleep the night before, with Santa coming and all the make-believe in the air.”

Bennett took time in the middle of a busy week--one that included a two-hour, Arts & Entertainment channel live broadcast Monday in honor of his 50 years in show business, an appearance at the National Tree Lighting Ceremony on the White House grounds Wednesday, and preparing Thursday for a role in the upcoming Billy Crystal-Robert DeNiro movie “Analyze This!”--to discuss his new book, a new kids-oriented CD and his holiday shows this weekend at the Orange County Performing Arts Center.

“[Christmas] has always been a beautiful feeling for me,” he said with his usual enthusiasm and modest charm. “Here I am at 72, and I still feel the spirit just like when I was a child.”

Childhood has been much on Bennett’s mind of late. “The Good Life” paints his own modest beginnings while discovering youthful motives for the passions of his adult life. His new album, “The Playground” boasts lyrics from Johnny Mercer, Dr. Seuss and others and guest appearances from Rosie O’Donnell and Sesame Street’s Elmo and Kermit the Frog.

Not all of Bennett’s biographical memories are sweet ones. His adult life has been marred by divorce, drug problems and financial problems, hardly the things someone so famously upbeat likes to discuss.

“It was difficult to go over these things,” he said slowly. “I’ve never been one to look back. . . . I’ve always thought of today and sketched out the future.”

Still, he likes the result of his collaboration with biographer Will Friedwald, author of “Sinatra!: The Song Is You.”

“Will’s a beautiful writer,” he said. “He and I talked and then he actually went out like a detective and did interviews of the people I knew and researched the moments I remembered best.”

In typical self-effacing style, Bennett pays tribute in his book to a series of teachers, coaches and mentors. American society, he said, doesn’t value people like them enough.

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“Our best hope in life is that we get a proper education and it’s the teachers who put us on the right path,” he said. “I dislike so much the way teachers are treated in this country. They’re the heroes, the real superstars.”

Another thing he thinks is undervalued is jazz.

“It’s the only art form that we’ve created in this country and it’s respected all over the world,” he said. “But it’s not respected enough here in the U.S. And it’s tragic and humorous the way it’s treated.

“It reminds me of the Impressionists at the turn of the century. They were called scribblers and some critics said they couldn’t paint,” he said. “But their work is absolutely religious and today they’re considered masters. I hope the same thing can happen to Dizzy [Gillespie], Prez (Lester Young), [Duke] Ellington, [Count] Basie and all the others.”

Bennett, who has gained a reputation as a competent and prolific painter, sees connections between singing and the visual art. “The premise is the same whichever one I’m doing,” he said. “Like [pianist] Bill Evans told me, think of truth and beauty, forget everything else.”

Bennett applies that principle at a nonstop pace, doing some 200 performances annually and drawing or painting daily.

“My first motivation,” he said, “was wanting to make it so my mother didn’t have to work. After that, I just got the bug. Bob Hope used to say [about me], ‘Point him in any direction and he’ll find a job.’ ”

He knows he won’t keep singing forever.

“I’m going to be truthful with myself,” he said. “If my voice starts wavering--and it hasn’t, I’ve been lucky to have nearly the same voice since I was 18--but if it starts deteriorating, then I’ll stay home and paint. But as long as I’m healthy, I’ll sing.”

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Bennett was scheduled to appear Friday night at the Performing Art Center’s annual “Candlelight Concert” fund-raiser for 400 patrons, an event that was expected to raise $1.3 million for the center.

His show there tonight for the public won’t simply be a repeat performance.

“We never do the same show twice. It’s always very spontaneous,” he said of his shows with his longtime accompanist, pianist Ralph Sharon. “I’ll get a feeling and turn around and tell Ralph: ‘Let’s do this.’ That’s the jazz influence.”

* Tony Bennett sings tonight at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. 8 p.m. $35-$75.

(714) 556-2787.