Customer Reviews

Francis a & Edward K

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

One of Sinatra's very best efforts. As great as some of the Capital swingers are, they are clearly dated to the time period in which they were recorded, whereas this album has a timeless quality. This is also true of his collaborations with Count Basie and Antonio Carlos Jobim, but as fine as those recordings are, they aren't as elegant sounding as this record.

The recordings are tasteful and restrained throughout, except for the overly frentic "Come back to me" that closes the record. The opening cut "Follow me", is majestic. "Sunny" is given a blues treatment, complete with a "growl" trumpet, and the arrangement elevates an otherwise mediocre composition to grandeur. "Indian Summer" is one of the most beautiful songs Sinatra ever recorded. The elegant simplicity of "I like the sunrise" is timeless. "Yellow days" and "Poor buterfly" are perfectly executed.

Sinatra was in fine voice and the orchestra, though restrained, played with sensitiviy and good taste - especially the soloists. There are only eight cuts, but the band stretches out, and the solos are stunning and fully realized, instead of the little snippets on the 2 to 3 minute cuts on his other albums that leave you begging for more. Only "Come back to me" misfires - The arrangement is too fast and doesn't fit in with the album's sound, although the lyrics are fantastic.

It's too bad this album so underrated and overlooked, because, frankly, it puts his other, more popular swingers like "Come Swing With Me", "Sinatra and Swinging Brass", and "Sinatra Swings", to shame.

The Sinatra-Ellington album (coyly entitled "Francis A & Edward K," which might actually have hurt sales) was puzzling for two reasons: it contains only 8 songs and there's only one Ellington tune contained--the hymnal "I Like The Sunrise."

The album would have seemed a perfect opportunity for Sinatra to explore some Ellington classics which he had never recorded--"Sophisticated Lady" "Satin Doll" and "Solitude" come immediately to mind..Sinatra echews these and other titles in favor, for example, of Bobby Hebb's innocuous 60's hit "Sunny". I know that Sinatra was never a fan of the songbook concept, as Ella was, for example, but in this case he was working with the composer.

Word has it there were problems at the sessions...The Ellington band did not rehearse the charts ahead of time and the musicians could not sight read (as Basie's sidemen could)so arranger Billy May had to call in a few ringers to get the sessions completed--pianist Jimmy Jones actually fills in for the Duke a few times.

"Francis A & Edward K" has its moments, though-- Johnny Hodges' brilliant solo on "Indian Summer" and Sinatra's incredible performance of "Poor Butterly" which finds him singing the song in full three times and doing it differently each time out.

The most dissapointing thing about "Francis A and Edward K" is thinking about what it might have been.

Yes it's hard to believe that the swinging Ellington Band and the best vocalist around can't connect and make sparks happen in the studio. The great Billy May wrote Ellington-like arrangments to really mediocre songs of the day. Not only were the songs mediocre the Ellington band didn't take the time to learn the arrangments and play them ala Ellington. The bands soloists are outstanding as usual; listen to Hodges on "Indian Summer", but the band just isn't "in the groove" to make the singer a swinger. Sinatra recorded with the band in the studio in real time and the great indifference to the arrangemets and the recording effect him in a personal way. His pitch is off as well as his great phrasing-listen to "Come Back to Me". Maybe the Chairman and the Duke should have done an Ellington Songbook album with Duke writing the arrangements. Maybe then the musical Summit Meeting would have been a truly swingin' event.

This album almost seems like an orphan.Here we have a collaboration between the best singer,and top jazzman,and it seems (almost) no one wants it! I actually prefer this to the two studio records of Frank and Count Basie.All these tunes,with the exception, of "Come Back to Me" are middle tempos,and many have a touch of sad melancholy. Which may be my reason for liking some of these cuts so much. My two favorites are "I Like the Sunrise",a haunting bit of melancholy optimism. I think Frank's somewhat craggy vocal here,and on the rest of the album,is a fine fit.And there is poetry in these lyrics: "I like the sunrise 'cause it brings a new day. I like a new day.It brings new hope, they say" and "my brand new bright tomorrow isn't very far". The arrangement here is great,though it seems that on occasion one of the players is stretching a high note."Poor Butterfly" based on a Japanese classical melody (I think) has never been done better,and has a bouncier feel but more sad lyrics. "Yellows Days", the same."All I Need is the Girl" has a loopy feel which makes it all the better. And these songs are not overdone by every aspiring Sinatra or Ella. Even Frank has never done them before, except possibly during the very early years. All in all, a rough gem,but still a gem,offering still more to the Frank oeuvre.

Sinatra's collaborations with Count Basie were monumentally successful, musically and publically. His stint with Ellington is less so. But there are wonderful tracks on this, and if for nothing else...buy it for Indian Summer...it's exquisite. I gather that there were problems in the studio when this album was recorded...Sinatra complained about his VOICE and Ellington's band was unprepared...but it is definately worth getting.

How can one of the greatest musicians in jazz and one of the best vocalists in history ever create a really boring record is something one cannot figure out, but there you got the it. Sinatra seems to be out of every song, even in the swinging "Come back to me", probably influenced by a cold and uninterested orchestra, which seems to play just because they are paid for. Sinatra's voice doesn't even sound as smooth as it should, just listen to his hard voice in "Poor butterfly". And what can be said about the repertoire, how can any producer loose the opportunity of having The voice sing the great songs of The Duke with the latter at the piano. The final result is a record that seems to sound like a Basie without any talent or interest. I think it is only ment for those (like me) who like to have everything Sinatra recorded. Disappointing.

If you are interested in acquiring just one jazz or swing album by Sinatra, this is the one to get. I may be in a minority among Sinatraphiles on this, but the fact is that the Ellington orchestra provided the Chairman with accompaniment unlike any he had before or after. The three Basie albums are undeniably great, but the Basie sound is not as easily distinguishable from Sinatra's studio orchestras as is the case with Ellington's limousine of an orchestra. This album is truly remarkable when one considers the fact that all accounts of the two sessions which produced it agree that the Duke and his men had very little interest in the sessions and did next to nothing to prepare for them since the Ellington organization was only ever interested in work written and arranged by Ellington and Billy Strayhorn! In spite of the Ellington band's indifference, the album is truly great because of the unique Ellington sound, Billy May's excellent arrangements and the great solo work by the Duke's key players - Johnny Hodges on alto, Harry Carney on baritone, Paul Gonsalves on tenor, Jimmy Hamilton on clarinet, Lawrence Brown on trombone and Cootie Williams on trumpet. "Come Back to Me" is one of the wildest, most frenetic recordings Sinatra ever made, featuring a short, but exciting and advanced, solo by Gonsalves, while "Follow Me" is truly majesterial; it's one of the Chairman's very greatest swingers. "Poor Butterfly" demonstrates Billy May's dramatic flair, with its exciting opening and clarinet simulation by Hamilton of the flight of a butterfly. The Chairman's vocal is completely involving. Arguably the most satisfying of the lot is the only Ellington tune on the set, "I Like the Sunrise" from his Liberian Suite of the 1940s. It's a beautiful song and Sinatra sings it with great sensitivity and understatement and, needless to say, no group could accompany him more effectively on it than Ellington's band. There is simply no Sinatra album that sounds more like a jazz album than this one.

If you've never heard this album, you're in for a real treat. It's a bit different from his usual "ring-a-ding" or "Wee Small Hours" albums, but if you dig Sinatra at his unique best, backed by one of the best orchestras he's ever worked with, this is a MUST buy. Did I hear "nice" solos?? They are "nice" like Mozart is nice, or DiVince is nice!! They will simply knock your socks off! I've had this album since it was released (on vinyl) in 1967 and, although I've long since gone to the CD version, have never tired of listening to it. One of the best albums Sinatra has ever recorded. Buy it and let us know how you liked it. Oh yes, you can thank me later.

The best that can be said for this album is that the performances are up to snuff. As usual, Sinatra is in command of the material and the Ellingon band sounds great.

In spite of that, the album is a real dissappointment. Although there's some nice solo work, the Duke and the great Ellington orchestra are just along for the ride on this one (Billy May was the conductor-arranger.) What's worse is that the list of songs includes practically nothing from the Ellington songbook.

Stan Cornyn's gratuitous references in the liner notes to the mystique of the Ellington band only make matters worse. One wonders what the results of a real collaboration might have been.

Of all of Sinatra's albums this is the most disappointing, primarily because of the enormous expectations a listener might justifiably have when America's greatest singer teams up with America's greatest composer. For the most part, neither the songs nor the arrangements are Ellington's. The band, in fact, sounds "flat" trying to match its inimitable sound to the studio-style arrangements. Perhaps it was inevitable that in a meeting of two geniuses with such strong, unique musical personalities, one would have to prevail. For this event to have succeeded, much more time and preparation on the part of both parties would have been essential. For the most satisfying match of Sinatra with a great jazz band, go to the Sinatra-Basie albums, especially the first. For a particularly successful combination of Ellington's creative genius with the interpretive artistry of a great singer, go to the Ellington-Clooney collection, "Blue Rose." But because this album is one of a kind, and because there are two songs that begin to capture the Ellington style, it may be considered indispensable to many collectors.