Music

By JAY COCKS

Here in one neat -- not to say lovely -- package is the essence of why CD boxed sets are a blessing. FORTY YEARS: THE ARTISTRY OF TONY BENNETT (Columbia/Legacy) is a four-disc retrospective of one of the world's best song stylists. Not an act of autohagiography, like the current Barbra Streisand set, this 87-tune panorama showcases a singer who is as gracious with a melody as he is generous with his collaborators. Sinatra may supply more drama, Cole may have been cooler, but no one can get to the quick of a lyric with the easy emotion of Bennett. The selections range from the pop- heavy The Boulevard of Broken Dreams (1950) through some surprises (a swinging, ebullient 1967 version of Al Jolson's Keep Smiling at Trouble) to 1989's high and handsome When Do the Bells Ring for Me. If the material is lacking, as in Song from "The Oscar," Bennett can raise it with a combination of precise technique and personal commitment. If the song is solid, he'll enhance it with openhearted skill. The touchstone of his gift is simplicity, so then let it be said, simply, this Forty Years sampling is glorious. J.C.