Bennett still swings at 79 -- nearly to a fault

Tony Bennett doesn’t just sing a song. He romances it; he teases, coaxes and strokes it. And sometimes he grabs it and shakes until he has squeezed every bit of juice he can get out of it.

Some songs love it. Some don’t. When they do, as in the case of a tune such as “I Left My Heart in San Francisco,” the result is a classic American pop-music experience.

When they don’t, as in the tunes that become the vehicles for Bennett’s apparent desire to demonstrate the still-virile, bel canto qualities of his voice, personality takes preference over interpretation.

All those elements were present at the Hollywood Bowl on Saturday night in a program titled “The Art of Song.”

Bennett, who turned 79 on Aug. 3, still has a remarkable vocal instrument. At its best, it has a pliability that moves easily from dark chest tones to open, airy head sounds. Perhaps even more important, he knows how to tell a story, how to find both the rhymes and the meanings in the lyrics of a song.

On “I’ll Be Seeing You” and “Smile,” for example, Bennett captured both the literal poignancy and the layered emotions present in the lyrics. By remaining within the musical and poetic parameters of both songs, expressing them with the inimitable warmth of his voice, he brought them vividly to life.

Other songs -- “Maybe This Time,” “For Once in My Life,” “I Wanna Be Around” -- started in similarly engaging fashion. But each lost focus when Bennett rose to high-altitude vocal climaxes more concerned with demonstrating how long he could hold a note than with appropriately concluding the storytelling aspects of the lyrics.

At his best -- and, amazingly, he still has the skills to be at his best -- Bennett is a vital master of American song. One could only wish that he would allow those skills to play a larger, less obstructed role in his performances.

The evening opened with a brief set by a contingent from the Los Angeles Philharmonic, conducted by Jeff Tyzik. Performing early jazz-oriented selections by Scott Joplin, George Gershwin and Jelly Roll Morton, among others, their well-intentioned performance nonetheless demonstrated how difficult it can be to translate written music into the propulsive swing of jazz.