Sinatra-Basie: An Historic Musical First [LP]

Sinatra-Basie: An Historic Musical First [LP]

by Frank SinatraCount Basie

Overview

The long-awaited first collaboration between two icons, Count Basie and Frank Sinatra, did something unique for the reputations of both. For Basie, the Sinatra connection inaugurated a period in the '60s where his band was more popular and better-known than it ever was, even in the big-band era. For Sinatra, Basie meant liberation, producing perhaps the loosest, rhythmically free singing of his career. Propelled by the irresistible drums of Sonny Payne, Sinatra careens up to and around the tunes, reacting jauntily to the beat and encouraging Payne to swing even harder, which was exactly the way to interact with the Basie rhythm machine -- using his exquisite timing flawlessly. Also the members of the Basie band play a more prominent role than usual on a Sinatra record, with soloists like Frank Wess -- in some of the finest flute work of his life -- and tenors Frank Foster and Eric Dixon getting prominent solo opportunities on several of the tracks. The record was criticized by some as a letdown when it came out, probably because Neal Hefti's charts rarely permit the band to roar, concentrating on use of subtlety and space. Yet the record's restraint has worn very well over the long haul -- it doesn't beat you into submission -- and it concludes with its best shot, a wonderfully playful treatment of "I Won't Dance." [Sinatra-Basie: An Historic Musical First was re-leased on LP in 2016.]

Product Details

Release Date: 05/06/2016
Label: Reprise / Umgd
UPC: 0602547704559
catalogNumber: 4770455

Tracks

  1. Pennies From Heaven
  2. Please Be Kind
  3. (Love Is) The Tender Trap
  4. Looking at the World Through Rose Colored Glasses
  5. My Kind of Girl
  6. I Only Have Eyes for You
  7. Nice Work If You Can Get It
  8. Learnin' the Blues
  9. I'm Gonna Sit Right Down (And Write Myself a Letter)
  10. I Won't Dance

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