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| CFA TO CONCLUDE BROADWAY RUN |
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COME FLY AWAY TO CONCLUDE ITS BROADWAY RUN ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2010 AFTER 26 PREVIEWS AND 187 REGULAR PERFORMANCES NATIONAL TOUR TO LAUNCH MAY 2011 IN CHICAGO The critically acclaimed Broadway musical COME FLY AWAY will conclude its Broadway run on Sunday, September 5 at the Marquis Theatre (1535 Broadway at 46th Street) after 26 previews and 187 regular performances. Conceived, choreographed, and directed by Tony Award-winner Twyla Tharp and featuring vocals by Frank Sinatra, COME FLY AWAY will launch a national tour in May, 2011 in Chicago. More details on this extensive, multi-city national tour will be announced at a later date. COME FLY AWAY, the new musical from visionary director/choreographer Twyla Tharp, follows four couples as they fall in and out of love during one song and dance filled evening at a swingin’ nightclub. Blending the legendary vocals of Frank Sinatra with a live on stage 19-piece big band and 15 of the world’s finest dancers, COME FLY AWAY weaves an unparalleled hit parade of classics, including “Fly Me To The Moon,” “My Way,” and “That’s Life” into a soaring musical fantasy of romance and seduction. Charles Isherwood of The New York Times calls COME FLY AWAY, “SPECTACULAR and DAZZLING! This is a MAJOR new work, with a stage full of BRILLIANT performers. Twyla Tharp’s ELECTRIFYING celebration of the music of Frank Sinatra will sweep you up in a complete spell.” Robert Johnson of The Star-Ledger calls the show “ONE OF THE MOST ELECTRIC PRODUCTIONS EVER TO LIGHT UP A BROADWAY MARQUEE” while Michael Kuchwara of the Associated Press calls the show, “ASTONISHING -- A love letter to romance, not to mention the man and his music, with eight MARVELOUS leads and an orchestra of STERLING musicians.” And Richard Zoglin of Time Magazine states simply, “COME FLY AWAY delivers the PUREST JOLT OF PLEASURE to be found on a Broadway stage.” The show’s score combines classic and newly discovered vocal performances from the Sinatra archives along with signature arrangements (Nelson Riddle, Billy May, Quincy Jones) as well as brand new charts for this fresh innovative musical. COME FLY AWAY stars Alexander Brady, Matthew Stockwell Dibble, Holley Farmer, Laura Mead, Charlie Neshyba-Hodges, Rika Okamoto, Karine Plantadit, Keith Roberts and John Selya. The production also features vocalist Hilary Gardner and on alternate performances, Rosena M. Hill. The company also includes Colin Bradbury, Todd Burnsed, Carolyn Doherty, Amanda Edge, Heather Hamilton, Meredith Miles, Marc Myars, Eric Michael Otto, Justin Peck, and on alternate performances, Kristine Bendul, Jeremy Cox, Cody Green, Laurie Kanyok, Marielys Molina, Joel Prouty, Ron Todorowski and Ashley Tuttle. COME FLY AWAY features scenic design by James Youmans, costume design by Katherine Roth, lighting design by Donald Holder, and sound design by Peter McBoyle. Music supervision is by the late Sam Lutfiyya and Patrick Vaccariello. Additional arrangements and orchestrations are by Dave Pierce and Don Sebesky. * * * * * * * Tickets, ranging in price from $66.50 - $126.50, can be purchased via www.TicketMaster.com or by calling 877-250-2929. For groups of 15 or more, please contact Nederlander Group Sales at 212.840.3890 or 800.714.8452 www.nederlandergroupsales.com. For More Information, please visit www.comeflyaway.com |
| Posted by: Nancy Jul 28, 2010 2:34 PM Comments(2) |
| SEPTEMBER OF MY YEARS |
 CONCORD MUSIC GROUP REISSUES FRANK SINATRA’S POIGNANT 1965 REPRISE CLASSICSeptember of My Years set for release on August 31, 2010 Pre-Order Album Here LOS ANGELES, CA - (July 20, 2010) - Nearly a half-century after its initial release, Concord Records ushers in the bittersweet season of autumn with a digitally remastered version of Sinatra’s September of My Years. On license from Frank Sinatra Enterprises (FSE), the album is set for release on August 31, 2010. In the spring of 1965, Sinatra huddled with his arranger and friend, Gordon Jenkins, to record September of My Years, a collection of 13 songs from an iconic balladeer taking stock in a life well lived and recommitting himself to making the best of the years ahead. It was an album that spawned such classics as “This Is All I Ask,” “Once Upon a Time” and of course, “It Was a Very Good Year.” Four Grammys and 45 years later, the 1965 album is considered one of the finest recordings of his career. In addition to the 13 songs from the original recording, the reissue also features two bonus tracks – a live version of “This Is All I Ask” and an alternate version of “How Old Am I?,” which was released as a single in 1968. The packaging also includes extensive new liner notes, an engaging mix of first-hand historical record and personal reflections penned by music journalist Stan Cornyn, who won a Grammy AwardÒ for his liner notes to the original recording. In the decades since the original release of September of My Years, an entire generation has come of age and is now making its own peace with the insidious nature of time. Sinatra’s songs speak as much to them as they do to listeners of a previous era. “There’s something about him and his voice that resonates with people, and it continues to move people throughout the years and the generations” says reissue producer Charles Pignone. “I don’t know what that X factor is. It’s something that means different things to different people. It’s probably better that nobody knows what it is. It’s a great honor to Frank Sinatra that we still talk about this music so many years after it was recorded. We see how quickly things change in this world, and yet he’s still relevant. People still want to hear Frank Sinatra.” TRACK LIST September of My Years How Old Am I? Don’t Wait Too Long It Gets Lonely Early This Is All I Ask Last Night When We Were Young The Man in the Looking Glass It Was a Very Good Year When the Wind Was Green Hello, Young Lovers I See It Now Once Upon a Time September Song BONUS TRACKS This Is All I Ask (live) How Old Am I? (single version) For more information please contact: Cary Baker • conqueroo • (323) 656-1600 • cary@conqueroo.com (for Concord) Lellie Capwell • Sacks & Co. • (818) 384-1180 • Lellie@sacksco.com (For FSE) |
| Posted by: Nancy Jul 18, 2010 9:09 PM Comments(31) |
| SFE ABOARD THE NAPA VALLEY WINE TRAIN |
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JOIN SINATRA FAMILY ESTATES ABOARD THE NAPA VALLEY WINE TRAIN ON AUGUST 21, 2010 FEATURING SINATRA FAMILY ESTATES 2007 “COME FLY WITH ME,” NAPA VALLEY CABERNET SAUVIGNON AND 2008 “LA VOCE,” NEWLY RELEASED TUSCAN BLEND NAPA, CA – On August 21, 2010, Napa Valley Wine Train, a 36-mile roundtrip ride through the heart of Napa Valley, will host a magical evening with Sinatra Family Estates. Featuring the award-winning 2007 “Come Fly With Me” Cabernet Sauvignon, and the soon-to-be released 2008 Tuscan blend “La Voce,” the evening will be attended by Nancy Sinatra and Amanda Erlinger, Sinatra’s granddaughter. As one of the most unique and best Napa restaurants, Napa Valley Wine Train Executive Chef Kelly Macdonald and Wine Director Ryan Graham will prepare an exquisite menu of all Sinatra’s favorites highlighted by the amazing wines. For reservations, please call (800) 427-4124 or visit http://winetrain.com/sinatra-dinner. Since its debut last fall, “Come Fly With Me,” a limited-production Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon has received high praise for its “beautiful notes.” A fitting tribute to an American icon, and one of the most recognizable and admired artists of the 20th and 21st centuries, “Come Fly With Me” is “full-bodied, opulent, and seriously-endowed” (Wine Advocate). In addition, Sinatra Family Estates received accolades as one of the top scoring Napa Valley Cabernets of the 2007 vintage. Beginning in September, Sinatra Family Estates newest vintage, the 2008 “La Voce,” will be available. A super Tuscan-style blend of Sangiovese and Colorino, two local grape varietals, produced from 3-hectare vineyard located in the hills of Fiesole, Italy, the wine is silky and smooth, with elegant tannins. (http://www.sinatrafamilyestates.com/thewine.php) Privately held, Sinatra Family Estates is a collaboration between the family of legendary Frank Sinatra, Frank Sinatra Enterprises, and partner Danielle Price (Executive Director of Wine for Wynn Resorts and owner of Coup de Foudre Winery) and John Schwartz (owner of Amuse Bouche Winery, Napa Valley). For further information, please contact Melodie Hilton at Napa Valley Wine Train at (707) 251-2510 / melodie@winetrain.com or Lellie Capwell at Sacks & Co. (for Frank Sinatra Enterprises) at (818) 384-1180 / Lellie@sacksco.com |
| Posted by: Nancy Jul 18, 2010 8:26 PM Comments(1) |
| FRANK SINATRA - LIVE AT THE SANDS |
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Frank Sinatra Sinatra at the Sands on Numbered Limited-Edition 180g 2LP Set from Mobile Fidelity - Sinatra's 1966 Live Album With Count Basie and Quincy Jones as Good as Music, Performance, and Chemistry Get - Half-Speed Mastered from the Original 2-Track Analog Master Tapes for Breathtaking Sound - Audiophiles Will Be in the Copa Room With Sinatra Standing in Front of Them Frank Sinatra. Count Basie. Quincy Jones. Las Vegas. Combinations and circumstances don’t get any better. And by every measure, Sinatra at the Sands is as good as music gets. Comprised of live material recorded at five nights in early 1966 at the famed Copa Room, Ol’ Blue Eyes’ 21-song album stands as one of his pinnacle achievements, the results a blend of superb chemistry, sparkling arrangements, infallible singing, and contagious energy. As part of its continuing series of essential Sinatra recordings, Mobile Fidelity is proud to offer the record in the most definitive-sounding edition available. Listeners will be transported to a table close to the stage, with the image of a tuxedo-clad Sinatra unfolding right in front of them. By 1966, Sinatra had conquered the world. His tenure as a teen idol and maturing crooner behind him, he was confident, assured, focused, and quite simply, untouchable. Music’s top arrangers and composers came to him, knowing the magic that he’d bring to their labors of love. It’s for these reasons that Count Basie and his orchestra backs Sinatra here, and why Jones, in demand by everyone, chooses instead to lend his arrangement insights onstage at the Sands. Indeed, Sinatra at the Sands harkens back to the day’s when concerts were a true event, and the album is nothing short that promise. This is a happening you won’t want to miss. Containing many of Sinatra’s most well-known and celebrated performances -- “I’ve Got a Crush on You,” “Fly Me to the Moon (In Other Words)” among them -- Sinatra at the Sands finds the entertainer in immaculate voice. He improvises lines with effortless and ease, casually adorns lyrics with hidden rhythms, stretches notes to instill meaning and emotion, and utilizes his impeccable knack for phrasing to turn a line and beget instrumental responses that complement each song’s mood. Meanwhile, Basie and Co. swing on uptempo numbers and lay back on melancholy tunes that still bring a tear to the eye. Warner Bros. executive Stan Cornyn, writing about these very shows, observed that, doing more than sing, “Sinatra turns actor. The man whose broad’s left him with some other guy and all of the loot…And there is silence about, for this audience is watching a man become that last lucked-out guy at the bar, the last one, with no where to go but sympathy city.” And so it goes, Sinatra proving it’s the singer and the song, demonstrating a seemingly unlimited range as he transports you to saloons, romantic parks, lonely streets, and bustling cities. Everything—the pacing, structure, passion, interpretation—is perfect. Mobile Fidelity has half-speed mastered this exquisite analog set from the original analog master tapes, originally recorded by engineer Lowell Frank. Clear, big, and sumptuous, Sinatra at the Sands now resonates with previously unheard details, transparency, imaging, projection, smoothness, and dimensionality. Capturing a human voice remains the most difficult recording task. Suffice it to say that this 2LP set will join the ranks of the very best recordings you own. Frank Sinatra Sinatra at the Sands Track Listing: 1. "Come Fly with Me" (Jimmy Van Heusen, Sammy Cahn) – 3:45 2. "I've Got a Crush on You" (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin) – 2:42 3. "I've Got You Under My Skin" (Cole Porter) – 3:43 4. "The Shadow of Your Smile" (Johnny Mandel, Paul Francis Webster) – 2:31 5. "Street of Dreams" (Victor Young, Samuel Lewis) – 2:16 6. "One for My Baby" (Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer) – 4:40 7. "Fly Me to the Moon" (Bart Howard) – 2:50 8. "One O'Clock Jump" (Instrumental) (Count Basie) – 0:53 9. "The Tea Break" (Sinatra Monologue) – 11:48 10. "You Make Me Feel So Young" (Josef Myrow, Mack Gordon) – 3:21 11. "All of Me" (Instrumental) (Gerald Marks, Seymour Simons) – 2:56 12. "The September of My Years" (Jimmy Van Heusen, Sammy Cahn) – 2:57 13. "Get Me to the Church on Time" (Frederick Loewe, Alan Jay Lerner) – 2:22 14. "It Was a Very Good Year" (Ervin Drake) – 4:01 15. "Don't Worry 'Bout Me" (Rube Bloom, Ted Koehler) – 3:18 16. "Makin' Whoopee" (Walter Donaldson, Gus Kahn) – 4:24 17. "Where or When" (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart) – 2:46 18. "Angel Eyes" (Earl Brent, Matt Dennis) – 3:26 19. "My Kind of Town" (Jimmy Van Heusen, Sammy Cahn) – 3:04 20. "A Few Last Words" (Sinatra Monologue) – 2:30 21. "My Kind of Town" (Reprise) – 1:00 |
| Posted by: Nancy Jul 13, 2010 3:39 PM Comments(4) |
| SINATRA HEADWEAR AVAILABLE THIS FALL |
   Sinatra™ Headwear to Launch this Fall from Dorfman Pacific STOCKTON, CA./NEW YORK, NY - Leading headwear company Dorfman Pacific announces the completion of an arrangement with Frank Sinatra Enterprises (FSE) under which Dorfman Pacific will market an exciting new collection of structured headwear. The Sinatra™ collection will launch with various fedora styles that are representational and inspired by Mr. Sinatra’s wardrobe. All will feature traditional haberdashery with details such as silk linings, grosgrain ribbon trim, classic hat pins, and each one will include touches of his favorite color orange on its interior as a tribute to him. Seldom, if ever, has a man been more closely linked to hats and style than Frank Sinatra—“The Chairman of the Board”— to the fedora. Always perfectly dressed for the occasion, always the epitome of elegance, Ol’ Blue Eyes was rarely without a perfectly selected hat. Now, with the Dorfman Pacific relationship, the classic style of Sinatra will be available. Dorfman Pacific will debut the collection at MAGIC in August this year, and will showcase the line in its major showrooms across the country. It will reach consumers in better department stores and specialty retailers for the Fall/Winter 2010 season. “Frank Sinatra was every bit as much of a perfectionist in his dress as he was on stage and screen,” said Dorfman Pacific‘s President and CEO, Douglas Highsmith. “He was and remains today almost as famous for his superlative tailoring and style as for his artistry—and hats were absolutely central to his look. This is an exciting moment for us. Frank Sinatra remains one of the most recognizable legends of film and music in America or anywhere else. With our world-leading skills in handcrafted, quality headwear, Dorfman Pacific will flawlessly design a collection that depicts Mr. Sinatra's look and is right for today’s buyer. We are looking forward to launching a truly authentic tribute to his legacy.” In addition to the Frank Sinatra brand, in the last year Dorfman Pacific has added Stetson®, Tommy Bahama®, Woolrich®, Panama Jack®, Blue Chair Bay™ by Kenny Chesney, Cappelli Straworld™, Discovery Expedition™, John Deere and Mossy Oak® to its line up. These top names have taken their place alongside the company’s core brands including Scala™, Scala Pro™, Callanan, Christys’ London, Headers, Tropical Trends and DPC™, Stacy Adams®, and Indiana Jones. Its Milano division features Larry Mahan and Justin Authentic Headgear. Dorfman Pacific, founded in 1921 is based at its 287,000 square foot facility in Stockton, California. It is the largest full-line in-stock headwear company in the world and has customers worldwide for its men’s, women’s and children’s headwear, bags and accessories. The company attends at all major trade shows. It recently opened a new, expanded showroom in Atlanta, and has other regional showrooms in Dallas, Boston, Honolulu and New York, where it also has a satellite office. Frank Sinatra Enterprises (FSE) is a joint venture between the Sinatra family and Warner Music Group (NYSE: WMG). FSE owns Sinatra’s recordings from the Reprise era as well as a treasure trove of films, television specials and unreleased footage, photos and audio recordings, which collectively represent one of the foremost bodies of artistic work of the modern era. FSE also owns and manages Sinatra’s name and likeness rights and represents the artist’s rights to the Columbia and Capitol catalogues. FSE pursues innovative new product and venture opportunities with respect to the legendary entertainer’s name and likeness, as well as Sinatra's audio and visual recordings. Media Contacts: Shelley Lipton, Lipton Publicity for Dorfman Pacific: 212-750-6654/Liptonpublicity@aol.com Lellie Capwell, Sacks & Co. for Frank Sinatra Enterprises: 818-384-1180/Lellie@sacksco.com |
| Posted by: Nancy Jul 9, 2010 11:24 AM Comments(8) |
| CROSBY FAMILY WINS LAWSUIT |
 After an arduous ten year battle, the heirs of Bing Crosby finally got their day in court. On June 30th, a jury in Santa Monica, California awarded them in excess of 2 million dollars in their lawsuit against Universal Music Group. It’s a significant victory for the Crosby family, as well as for all recording artists whose royalties have been underpaid by record labels. Crosby’s daughter Mary commented, “Recording artists have a long history of being taken advantage of by their labels, and despite the incredible contribution my father made to the world of music, he was no exception. I give my mother a lot of credit for her willingness to hang in there for over a decade. It seems that record companies prefer to keep things in litigation for as long as possible because most people don’t have the resources to stick it out. This tactic generally works, because the majority of artists settle out of court for far less than they’re due.” Mary was in the courtroom with her mother, Kathryn Crosby, when the verdict was read. Bing Crosby, who died in 1977, recorded exclusively for Decca Records from August 1934 until December 1955. The Decca catalog was later obtained by MCA Records, which ultimately became part of Universal Music Group. Among Crosby’s 1200 recordings for Decca is “White Christmas”, the best selling record of all time. The Guinness Book of World Records reports worldwide sales for Crosby’s recording of the song at over 100 million copies. “White Christmas” has entered the American pop charts twenty separate times. The vast catalog of Bing Crosby’s non-Decca recordings is currently being issued through Collectors’ Choice Music and Mosaic Records. Bing Crosby has sold close to one billion records, tapes, compact discs and digital downloads around the world. He may be the biggest selling recording artist of all time. Only The Beatles, Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson can rival his sales figures. Crosby had sold 200 million records by 1960 and the figure had doubled by 1980. Crosby is the most recorded performer in history, having made over 2000 commercial recordings and approximately 4000 radio programs in addition to an extensive list of film and television appearances. He scored 38 number one records – more than The Beatles (24) and Elvis Presley (18). His recordings reached the charts 396 times - more than Frank Sinatra (209) and Elvis Presley (149) combined. Crosby’s closest rival is Paul Whiteman (220) with whose orchestra he sang early in his career. For additional information about Bing Crosby visit: www.bingcrosby.com Bing Crosby is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bing-Crosby/44544738326 The Bing Crosby Archive Series is available from Collectors’ Choice Music at: http://www.ccmusic.com/room.cfm?id=212 The Bing Crosby CBS Radio Recordings 1954-56 from Mosaic Records is available at: http://www.mosaicrecords.com/prodinfo.asp?number=245-MD-CD For information about the pubic broadcasting special, The Legendary Bing Crosby visit: http://www.aptonline.org/catalog.nsf/vTitle/LEGENDARY+BING+CROSBY,+THE |
| Posted by: Nancy Jul 1, 2010 6:41 PM Comments(8) |
| ALL ABOUT JAZZ REVIEWS SINATRA/JOBIM |
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Sing it Out to Swing it Out! Francis Albert Sinatra/Antonio Carlos Jobim The Complete Reprise Recordings Concord Order Album Here Discuss Album Here Finally. The Complete Reprise Recordings compiles every tune—all 20—that America's supreme vocalist recorded with Brazil's preeminent composer during their legendary late 1960s summits. The first ten comprise the famous, fantastic Francis Albert Sinatra / Antonio Carlos Jobim album arranged and orchestrated by Claus Ogerman, released by Reprise in 1967. Sinatra and Jobim reconvened two years later, with Eumir Deodato replacing Ogerman as arranger, to record 10 more tunes for a second Sinatra-Jobim album that the Chairman withdrew from the market as soon as it was shipped (we'll explain why). Seven of those tunes later appeared as the first side of Sinatra & Company, released by Reprise in 1971; this new compilation unveils the other three—"Bonita," "Desafinado (Off Key)" and "The Song of the Sabia"—for the first time. Few moments in music are more beautiful and magical than the softly strummed guitar, sighing horns and whispered drums that introduce you to "The Girl From Ipanema," and "Change Partners" stands among Sinatra's best Irving Berlin interpretations. But unless you've experienced the magic and wonder of that first Sinatra/Jobim release, it is almost impossible to explain in words how beautifully its music floats and sways. Since many such words have already been written, we can concentrate on the newly released music instead. Deodato contributes several fantastic arrangements. He mixes the principals' wordless vocals into the rhythm track of "Drinking Water (Agua de Beber)," bouncing them across the stereo channels, and also serves up the funkiest half-gospel, half-Brazilian piano with which Sinatra ever recorded. Deodato casts Sinatra's voice upon a simply perfect "Wave," with calling acoustic guitars and strings, answering flutes, and Sinatra snuggling down deep in his register with supreme control (and even some extracurricular funky bass/drum "four" play in the fade). Jobim, Deodato and Sinatra vocally and instrumentally illuminate "Someone to Light Up My Life" into a polished, golden glow. That one really should have been a hit. — Chris M. Slawecki All About Jazz |
| Posted by: Nancy Jul 1, 2010 6:26 PM Comments(0) |
| CAUGHT IN THE CAROUSEL REVIEWS SINATRA/JOBIM |
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Sinatra/Jobim The Complete Reprise Recordings Concord Order Album Here Discuss Album Here The pairing of the Chairman of the Board and the quiet boy from Brazil may have been a curious one on paper, but when Sinatra and Jobim recordedFrancis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim in 1967, the results were decidedly miraculous. Time has not only been kind to the ten songs that make up the album, not eroding their majesty one bit, it has revealed all these years later that this is perhaps one of the most elegant recordings of the last fifty years. The compositions may mostly be Jobim's, but Sinatra saunters through them as if they were his all along. The perfect foil for the aging crooner, Jobim's finesse and musical precision give Sinatra ample room to wander in and it's just this combination that reveals the singer's great strengths. In fact, his pauses on "The Girl From Ipanema" his masculine glissades on "Quiet Nights Of Quiet Stars (Corcovado) and his his gentle glide on "Dindi" showcase that not only was Sinatra perhaps the greatest phraser of all time, he was also a master interpreter, understanding a song from the inside out. This preternatural gift make Irving Berlin's "Change Partners" subversively seductive, while the many layers of Cole Porter's "I Concentrate On You" are peeled beautifully open. The back half of this compilation contains the entire Sinatra-scrapped second album, set to be titled Sinatra/Jobim. Recorded in 1969, all didn't go as smoothly as the first and Sinatra's dissatisfaction (he thought some of the songs sounded "off") prompted him to reportedly order executives to "kill the album." Available for the first time in its entirety, Sinatra/Jobim is a worthy follow up to the first. "The Song Of The Sabia," "Someone To Light Up My Life" and "Triste" are particularly winning, while "One Note Samba (Samba de Uma Nota So)" is positively breathtaking. The numbers that made Sinatra uncomfortable—most notably the utterly lovely "Bonita"—might have been scrapped prematurely, as they finish these proceedings in fine fashion. Either way, these two albums make it clear that Sinatra understood Bossa Nova and Bossa Nova understood Sinatra. The two should have not taken leave of each other so soon. —Alex Green Caught in the Carousel |
| Posted by: Nancy Jun 21, 2010 9:25 PM Comments(2) |
| DETROIT FREE PRESS REVIEWS SINATRA/JOBIM |
 Antonio Carlos Jobim and Frank Sinatra in the recording studio in the late '60s. (ED THRASHER) Sinatra swings with the bossa nova king BY MARK STRYKER FREE PRESS CLASSICAL AND JAZZ CRITIC A version of this story appears on page 4J of the Sunday, June 13, 2010, print edition of the Detroit Free Press. It should never have taken this long, but more than 25 years into the CD era -- and more than 40 years since the two collaborations between Frank Sinatra and Antonio Carlos Jobim were recorded in 1967 and '69 -- we finally have all the material issued on one elegant disc, "The Complete Reprise Recordings" (FOUR STARS out of four stars, Concord). Mediocre bossa nova albums multiplied like rabbits in the '60s. But the initial pairing of Sinatra with Jobim, an architect of the form and a composer of Keats-like lyricism, produced an undisputed highpoint in the discography of both men, "Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim." Despite just 10 songs lasting only 28 minutes, it remains for me the last true Sinatra masterpiece -- the final album that deserves an unqualified place in the pantheon with Sinatra's classic Capitol concept LPs from the '50s and the best of the Reprise albums from earlier in the '60s. The magic comes from a lot of places. Sinatra was still able to summon the full measure of his breath control and command of vocal color and shading in 1967; the expressive restraint and taste that he brings to the material perfectly captures the lazy afternoon zephyr of Jobim's aesthetic. Sinatra also catches the cool-jazz lilt at the heart of the bossa nova rhythm. Then there's the material: "Dindi," "Corcovado," "Meditation," "Once I Loved" and others are melodic-harmonic miracles, enhanced by Claus Ogerman's beautifully modulated, transparent orchestrations. Never did Sinatra sing so softly and seductively as on "Dindi" ("GIN-gee"), where he mines Ray Gilbert's English lyric for every last drop of poignant longing, floating on the cloud of Jobim's guitar, strings and flutes. On the "Girl from Ipanema," Sinatra trades phrases with Jobim's wispy Portuguese to charming effect. Three American songbook standards are given definitive interpretations -- a smoldering "I Concentrate on You," a slyly shuffling "Baubles, Bangles and Beads," and a heartbreaking "Change Partners" that ranks a close second to "Dindi" as the album's best of the best. The follow-up, "Sinatra-Jobim," arranged by Eumir Deodato, is far less consistent, and Sinatra pulled the record on the brink of release. He was unhappy with his performances on "Bonita," "Desafinado" and "The Song of the Sabia." The seven other tunes found a home as the only worthwhile material on "Sinatra & Company." By now, the Voice is beginning to fray, but the best performances match the standard of the earlier LP, including a sassy "Aqua de Beber," a sweet "Triste" and a spirited "Wave," where Sinatra reaches down on the last syllable of the word "together" for one of the lowest notes in his recorded canon; he nails it every time in unison with the bass trombone. Oh, man, what a musician he was. Order Album Here Discuss Album Here |
| Posted by: Nancy Jun 16, 2010 2:22 PM Comments(5) |
| CFA ON 'SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE' |
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PLAYBILL.COM Come Fly Away to Perform on "So You Think You Can Dance" http://www.playbill.com/playblog/2010/06/come-fly-away-to-perform-on-so-you-think-you-can-dance/ Come Fly Away cast members Karine Plantadit and Keith Roberts will guest star on the hit FOX competition series “So You Think You Can Dance” June 17. Plantadit, who was Tony-nominated for her work in Come Fly Away, and Movin’ OutTony nominee Roberts will duet in “That’s Life” during the live results show. Twyla Tharp earned a Tony Award nomination for her choreography to Come Fly Away, which uses the songs and vocals of Frank Sinatra as its musical palate. The production opened on Broadway March 25 at the Marquis Theatre. “So You Think You Can Dance” will air live at 9 PM ET. Check local listings. |
| Posted by: Nancy Jun 16, 2010 10:27 AM Comments(2) |
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