A Swingin' Christmas is exactly what Tony Bennett delivered when the legendary crooner reunited with the Count Basie Big Band for his first holiday album in 40 years.

Yes, you read that right, four decades.

The 82-year-old singer says 1968's Snowfall, a disc of more traditional and religious songs that he recorded with Toronto-born, British-based arranger Robert Farnon (who Sinatra nicknamed "The Governor," calling him the greatest orchestrator in the world) was just so good, he couldn't imagine doing another one. Until now.

"Every year the company would come to me, 'Please do a Christmas album, 'cause (in) (December) we make the most money,'" recalled Bennett, during a promotional stop in Toronto.

"And I made an album with Robert Farnon, and it's just beautiful. It's just the best music that there is. It was so complete as an album."

Bennett, who still performs about four to five dates a month and spends the rest of the time painting, said he was finally motivated to record a new holiday disc when his son/manager, Danny, came up with an idea of "a party album" for the holidays.

"Just to do an album of swingin' tunes" Bennett said. "It's such a festive time when you have guests come over to the house to have a nice beat going and just nice happy songs. You know nothing religious about it, nothing sombre, they all just have nice, relaxed, swingin' beats, happy songs like Winter Wonderland and or My Favourite Things."

A Swingin' Christmas marked another milestone as Bennett reunited for the first time in 50 years with the Count Basie Orchestra, again at his son Danny's suggestion.

"I was, years ago when it was unheard of, the first white singer to sing with the Count Basie Band," Bennett said. "Now it's all right but in those days, it was like, 'What?' "

Earlier this year, Bennett and Billy Joel became the last artists to play New York's Shea Stadium, which is being demolished, although he found the venue overwhelmingly large and the audience predominantly white.

"It's a salute to bigotry, too, because 59,000 people and what shocked me is they're all white. So we still have a way to go with prejudice in our country."

Still to come for Bennett in January is a jazz album with Stevie Wonder, with Quincy Jones producing.

The two artists met on Bennett's 2006 Duets album and accompanying TV special.

"He was playing the piano and he said, 'You know, someday I have to get good enough to play the piano real well -- love jazz.' So as he was playing, I said, 'You know how to do it already.' He said, 'Well, let's do an album together.' And I just loved that. It'll be a lot of his songs, it'll be a lot of other artists' songs that we like. Maybe a Ray Charles song, a Marvin Gaye song, or songs that I've introduced like Who Can I Turn To or something like that."

In other words, retirement isn't in the cards for Bennett anytime soon.

He is also lined up to perform with Canadian k.d. lang at TV mogul/billionaire/entrepreneur John Kluge's 95th birthday party next September and has already taped an appearance on Elvis Costello's upcoming talk show, which included an impromptu appearance by Costello's Canuck wife, Diana Krall.

"I'm a funny guy," Bennett said. "I have a passion to sing and paint, and I never stop learning so I dread retirement. I hope that I can stay healthy enough to keep singing for my whole life and performing for my whole life. But it's a matter of staying vital and staying fresh about it and having the proper energy. If I start wobbling, I'll just become a painter, rather than have people suffer and listen to me. I don't want have (people) going, 'Well, he's not singing as well as he's used to.' That's terrible."