"We just went in there at 2:30 in the morning and went to work," Tony Bennett explains of his two album-length collaborations with pianist Bill Evans. Where their first, originally released in 1975, has long been a favorite CD reissue, the 1977 sequel, Together Again, remained much less recognized. One spin should remedy that. If anything, Together Again is even more resonant than its better known brother. Bennett, so apparently buoyant in most settings, responds to Evans with dignified but undeniably deep soul and voice: even the likes of "Make Someone Happy" and "You"re Nearer" seem to entice doubt to the surface. At the same time, "Lucky to Be Me" convincingly tucks ruefulness away. Finally, though, the almost-suite of songs that make up the original LP"s side 2 (tracks 6 through 10 on this disc) are as satisfyingly aching as anything, at least, in Bennett"s catalog. Without reservation, this masterful work must be counted among both men"s essential recordings. --Rickey Wright