At The Royal Festival Hall
Introduction By Princess Grace Of Monaco
1. You Make Me Feel So Young
2. Pennies From Heaven
3. I've Got You Under My Skin
4. Something
5. The Lady Is A Tramp
6. I Get Along Without You Very Well
7. Didn't We
8. One For My Baby
9. I will Drink The Wine
10. I Have Dreamed
11. My Kind Of Town
12. My Way
Frank Sinatra - Vocals
Bill Miller - Pianist, Musical Director
Orchestra Members not specified
Sinatra In Japan
1. The Lady Is A Tramp
2. Fly Me To The Moon
3. My Way
4. I've Got You Under My Skin
5. Something
6. I Get A Kick Out Of You
7. My Kind Of Town
8. Someone To Watch Over Me
9. All Or Nothing At All
10. Mack The Knife
11. Luck Be A Lady
12. L.A. Is My Lady
13. Strangers In The Night
14. Come Rain Or Come Shine
15. Pennies From Heaven
16. One For My Baby
17. Theme From New York, New York
Joe Parnello - Pianist, Musical Director
Tony Mottola - Guitar
Bass - Don Baldwin
Drums - Irv Cottler
Lead Trumpet - Tony Gorruso
Lead Trombone - Bob Scannapieco
Lead Saxophone - Bob Pierson
Percussion - Mark Barnett
Was Francis Albert Sinatra a jazz singer? Well, not as such, notwithstanding the polls that classified him that way. Rather, he was the outstanding singer
of popular songs of the twentieth century. Nevertheless, we can make certain claims about the man and his music that anchor him in the jazz world. The
first of these was his sublime phrasing which was nurtured in his days with the Tommy Dorsey Band, early in his career. He was especially indebted to
Dorsey's immaculate trombone technique. From the bandleader, too, he learned about breath control. Dorsey was a first-rate interpreter of ballads in his
day and this was to become one of Sinatra's great strengths. There's no doubt that keeping company, vocally and otherwise, with the jazz musicians in the
band also helped his development. Sinatra, of course, could swing with the best of them and during the years where he was in his musical prime (roughly,
though not exclusively, the Capitol years from 1953 to 1962) he sang with conductor/arrangers such as Nelson Riddle and Billy May whose bands invariably
provided appropriately jazz-inflected backings especially for the more up-tempo numbers. Consequently, musicians of the calibre of Harry 'Sweets' Edison on
trumpet (usually muted) and Milt Bernhart on trombone contributed to memorable moments in the Sinatra canon. Sinatra had an instinctive feeling for jazz.
Among his later collaborations, he was to record with the Count Basie band, producing a couple of albums, the first of which was critically acclaimed.
These two video recordings, part of a series entitled The Frank Sinatra Collection, are separated in time by almost fifteen years. The first of them dates
from November 1970 and comes from the Royal Festival Hall in London. Princess Grace of Monaco who, as the actress Grace Kelly, starred with Sinatra and
other luminaries in the film High Society, gives an anecdotal introduction to the performance. Sinatra then kicks off with You Make Me Feel So Young which he delivers with his usual style and swagger. In Pennies From Heaven, he improvises on the lyrics without
self-consciousness, albeit forgetting the next line at one point, and seems to be thoroughly enjoying himself. There is some effective muted trumpet on
this one. I'm afraid I've Got You Under My Skin falls short of Sinatra's Songs For Swingin' Lovers track, largely because, despite the
classic Nelson Riddle arrangement, the two musicians who substitute for that superlative Milt Bernhart solo are anaemic by comparison. Elsewhere, there's
some sharp humour on The Lady Is A Tramp. Sinatra is really in the groove, turning in a triumphant version of the Rodgers and Hart song. The
audience are ecstatic in their response. A selection of what Sinatra calls 'Songs for Losers' follows. Jimmy Webb's Didn't We is mean and moody,
that inimitable Sinatra flair for rueful lyrics to the fore. One For My Baby illustrates why Sinatra is held in awe as an interpreter of the
so-called 'saloon ballad'. Truly nobody does it better. On the other hand, the introduction to the song goes on interminably. As for I Will Drink The Wine, written especially for Sinatra as a prospective showstopper by Paul Ryan, I think I'll stick to water! There's too much
braggadocio evident, for my taste. My Kind Of Town is a different story altogether, an out-and-out swinger. On the whole, Sinatra was in fine
voice for this London date.
By the time of the Tokyo concert, in April 1985, Sinatra was 69 years old. His voice is lacking power as compared with his prime or even as contrasted with
fifteen years before, but his experience and innate sense of rhythm means he is still able to hold an audience. He seems much more conscious of his debt to
those gifted arrangers who have enriched his music and gives them credit throughout the concert. The Tokyo performance began with a photo/film montage of
Sinatra's career, complete with orchestral accompaniment. Sinatra brought with him a small cohort of American musicians to enhance and supplement the
Japanese orchestra who accompanied him on this occasion. For whatever reason, the band, in my view, is superior to that which played for Sinatra in London.
Despite that, there seems to be less atmosphere than at the previous concert, possibly because of the greater distance between audience and performer in a
large auditorium.
The opener, The Lady Is A Tramp, is a remarkable vocal effort from the veteran, given the passage of years, and the orchestra packs plenty of
punch. There's a lusty tenor solo of note on Fly Me To The Moon (a Quincy Jones arrangement). My Way is subdued, compared to the earlier
Royal Festival Hall version. I've Got You Under My Skin, despite that sterling Nelson Riddle score, is again disappointing at the crucial point
(see above). In addition, Sinatra's voice is losing some of its elasticity. Something is downright ropey. All Or Nothing At All, rescues
a rather ordinary sequence of songs, by the standards of the great man, with a fine version of this early Sinatra favourite, backed by a swinging
orchestra. Mack The Knife is a bravura performance by both singer and orchestra which clearly excites the audience. Sinatra also does well with Luck Be A Lady, except there's an unfortunate moment (attempted humour?) where he pronounces the title line as Ruck Be A Rady! Oh dear.
The Theme From New York, New York brings the concert to a barn-storming finale.
In summary, the later concert is the proverbial 'curate's egg', good in parts. Scat singing was never Sinatra's strong suit and where it features here, as
in Come Rain Or Come Shine, it was better not attempted. Pennies From Heaven suffers from a laboured attempt at improvised
lyrics. In other words, attempts at spontaneity don't stand up so well on this particular occasion. Taken together, however, the two concerts give us
enough pure gold on this DVD to make it a desirable purchase for many and an essential for those who revere the memory of the late, great Chairman of the
Board.
James Poore
CD Reviews
