Customer Reviews

Celebrating Sinatra

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This player, one of today's most brilliant jazz improvisers, does not make one record like the other. And still, he manages to make them all "right". If you are looking at this record because of the "Celebrating Sinatra" title, this music might surprise or provoke you. This is Lovano and his band playing, so don't expect them to play the music without making it personal. I love this, and I think most Lovano fans will. The sound is great, as one would expect, and the subtle arrangements are heart-pleasing. This is modern and classic, all at the same time. Perhaps not quite the thing for those swooner/crooner/jazz conservativists, though?

Released when Sinatra tributes were a big fad, a few years before the chairman of the board expired, Lovano's heartfelt paean to one of the greatest singers is an art-music triumph. It didn't sell very well when new, probably because the Sinatra market was saturated with more accessible product and word of mouth pegged this off-beat gem as not quite what some may have expected. No one should mistake this as yet another schmaltzy reworking of Sinatra standards. Instead, it's an artistic transformation by a top rank improviser of songs that Sinatra made famous. But Lovano takes them all a step beyond. Aided by low-key string arrangements by Manny Albam, Lovano soars lightly over the usual Sinatra repertoire. He creates moods, paints abstract sound pictures and makes jazz statements like the master saxophonist he's become over the past decade since signing with Blue Note. If you see this used, pick it up.

Not so much a celebration of the chairman's music, more an honest but failed attempt at cashing in on a fad. The vocalizing on some of the numbers is superflous, and the orchestrations are somewhat of a hodge-podge. As always, Lovano's playing shines, but this is not the Lovano album to begin with. This is like trying to listen to Miles Davis of Doo-Bop or Tutu--the backgrounds of those albums are horrible too. Better to check out Landmarks or Trio Fascination instead if you are a novice

This is a wonderful CD!! I was really surprised that some people thought this was poor.... but that's what makes the world go round!!!!

I purchased this album HOPING this would be a mellow,musical tribute to the art and music of the world's greatest vocalist. What i got was a lengthy,hard to listen to,improvisational roller coaster ride that made me dizzy! Where's the celebration? If you came in to listen in the middle of any of the 13 cuts, you wouldn't identify any as a "Sinatra" tune. If your'e a fan of free-form,Improv jazz, you might like it. I came away duped, and very disappointed. I guess for "real" Sinatra, there isn't, or will there ever be,the real thing other than "The Chairman"! Just don't look in here to capture that magic!

The completely out-of-tune vocals only add to the confusion of Manny Albam's Gil-Evansesque retread arrangements and Joe's "improvisation" - this is ANTI-music!! They should have taken more that 2 days to record this - maybe they might have rethought a few things and come up with something worth listening to?!!