Customer Reviews

Francis a & Edward K

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

OK, so the critics found this not to be a wonderful recording effort. I frankly have always liked this album as much as any from Sinatra, and Ellington's band...my favorite band ever. The fact that I couldn't find it in CD format was upsetting to me...the original LP was showing its age. It is now available and it does swing! Poor Butterfly is one of my favorites, followed closely by All I Need Is The Girl. It is in my top 10 albums.

Am I missing something? This has been one of my favorite Sinatra discs since I picked up the LP on Frank's Reprise label back in the 1970s. Even then it was in the cutouts for 33 cents?! You tell me, how can a recording by arguably the greatest pop singer of the 20th century with the greatest big band of any century be so woefully overlooked?

Is the music just too good, too mature, too deep and heartfelt to be popular? This is right up there with 'Only the Lonely' and 'Songs for Swingin' Lovers' as Sinatra's best and it came SO MUCH later in what I have always regarded as a dry spell for him.

'Francis A & Edward K' IS dry, but in a good way. Heraclitus said, "A dry soul is wisest and best." After listening to the version of `Indian Summer' on this recording, I could not agree more! This one is straight, no chaser. Smooth and true.

This is one of the best produced and engineered recordings of all time. Frank Sinatra never had a better produced album and as for Duke Ellington, this ranks with Money Jungle as his best in production, engineering, and music.

If you have ever bought a recording simply because you wanted to hear it and not because you wanted to be a critic , then that's what most of us do because unlike critics , we don't get them for free .
That was my reason for buying the present album .

I had read a lot about it and I don't think that helped .

I've realised it's better to just experience something with a fresh pair of ears ( in this case ) .

The album is enjoyable and has some effective arrangements on it .
One thing that I noticed is that the double bass was very well recorded and that leads you through the album . The songs were not over-familiar and that helped me enjoy it , as I wasn't singing along and was able to concentrate on the whole presentation .

It is enjoyable music for its own sake - not every album can be a masterpiece , let's face it - we are getting less of those now than ever .

I enjoyed it in the end - it was a little ramshackle in parts , but that makes it more accessible in my opinion . The playing is good enough and Frank does sound interested , which means the album comes down to the level of most other singer's albums . The concern for Frank fans is that they may not like to hear him just 'getting by' .
Add this to your collection to hear Frank sing some different songs - really , you shouldn't miss out on that simply because some people feel this album isn't brilliant .

Give it a spin and do your ears a favour .

It's an enigma for the ages how these two giants of entertainment, only managed to cross paths once for a 35 plus minute recording session during the 20th Century. What we get is a pure desert island disc. Oddly, Billy May arranges and conducts while the Duke tickles the ivory. May still manages to evoke that swaggering, cool, Ellington Big Band sound. Sinatra adapts himself perfectly to complement the Ellington sound. This meager production, remastered in 1999 of only eight well chosen songs shines in every way. For the most part the arrangements are slow, cool, and collective, featuring vivid detail in brass and highlighted soloists. Though this album is short by today's CD standards, all but the last selection are over four minutes. This allowing for more orchestra interjections than most typical Sinatra recordings. Afterall many of Ellington's Band members had been with him since 1950. They relish this occassion to share the stage with Frank, to show their stuff for this 1968 release. Only the last track "Come Back to Me" departs from the overall theme, exhibiting a little more Basie tendency. It is rare to get standards of musicianship in popular music like this. The session banter told of in the liner notes by Stan Cornyn adds to the intimacy.

I've noticed this album has been the subject of content amongst many Sinatra fans. The main criticism is that this album doesn't feel like the event it should've been: the greatest American pop singer meeting with jazz music's most celebrated composer.

This is true to an extent. Frank does not achieve quite the same chemistry with Ellington and his crew as he did with Basie, and he didn't even bother to record any Ellington compositions (imagine Frank singing "Take The A Train," "It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)," "Do Nothin' Til You Hear From Me," "Mood Indigo," "'t Get Around Much Anymore," or "I Got It Bad And That Ain't Good" with The Duke?). Because of this, Duke and his band seem more like Sinatra's personal backing band than musical co-artists.

That being said, the album is hardly a waste. In fact, the album has more than enough great material on it to justify a five star rating (although 4.5 might be more accurate).

The album's undisputed highlight would be the sublime reading of Sondheim's "All I Need Is The Girl." I cannot say enough good things about this song. Frank and Duke are in perfect synch here, the swagger of Duke's band as they blaze through Bill May's classy arrangement match Frank's finger snapping bravado perfectly. This one of Frank's finest recordings, an exciting musical masterpiece that only talent like Sinatra, Ellington and May could concoct.

Also of note is the lovely "Indian Summer." Frank's phrasing is impeccable, and the arrangement is lovely and quite haunting.

The album has some other classics worth mentioning: "Follow Me" breezes along gently, with Duke providing some excellent piano ticklings amidst Frank's relaxed and inviting vocal performance. "Yellow Days" is excellent, and the closing "Come Back To Me" is a high energy romp with Frank knocking down phrases like a bulldozer.

The rest of the uniform is certainly above average, and the sound quality and liner notes are excellent. Not quite the masterpiece it could've been, it's more than worthwhile.

Once again I fly in the face of the majority of customers. I bought this album on LP years ago and then again on CD when it was still available. I just listened to it again this morning.

And entire album of dreary, slow tempos (and some even slower) just doesn't make it. When Frank got into a "concept" mood, sometimes the similarity of the tracks became tedious, as in ONLY THE LONELY. This is another case in point. The only up-tempo number in here is "Come Back to Me," which wails...until it collapses at the end with Frank screaming the last notes. Painful. (The syllable "me" should never be on a high note. No singer can cope with that vowel sound way up there.)

The Billy May charts are tailor-made for the Ellington sound (even though, as I recall reading somewhere, some "ringers" had to be brought in and added to the band to cut the charts), and Sinatra's singing is good for this period in his career. But the tempos, one after another, are stultifying. Just when you think you've heard enough slow material, along comes a song that's even slower!

In all, the albums with Basie are much, much more entertaining. That's my opinion and I'm sticking with it!

Sinatra with the Duke,what could be better? Unfortunately that is'nt the case for either of these legends.On this recording Sinatra's voice sounds worn and strained and the Duke's band does'nt sound together in places.However there are spots of greateness amongst the mostly dreary arrangements."Poor Butterfly" is about the best of the lot."I Like the Sunrise" ,a poor tune that Duke penned for Al Hibbler from his 1940's Liberian Suite is amongst the worst.What might Sinatra have done with Ellington gems like "I Got it Bad ect.-Do Nothing 'till You Hear From Me-It Dont Mean A Thing If It Aint Got That Swing" and so on.What a waste of time and talent.I bought this album on 33 1/3 RPM disc in 1968 and was disapointed then.Save your money and get something else from either of these two giants.A good start,if you dont already have it, is Sinatra with Basie from the same period.A superb record.

Spoiler alert: Not a real review, just reviewing reviewers & Amazon product details. Neither Amazon nor any reviewers have yet given details on members of the Ellington orchestra present at this recording session. Disappointing, given the comments about the extensive liner notes included in this release.

Perhaps it's the 'backing-band' ensemble playing on the previews (maybe that's the way the entire recording is). Who knows? I haven't heard it all yet.

Sounds like I hear Johnny Hodges. And I know Ben Webster recorded on Sinatra's 'Reprise' label. Tell us who's there, Amazon or anyone.

The previews do sound tight, like Sinatra's best backing-band ever for slow tunes. Hope there's an instrumental solo or two somewhere.

More info please...

I agree with reviewers who can't understand why this album isn't more popular and referred to. It's a wonderful mix of master's of music getting together to collabarate on some great arrangements. The Duke and his musicians never overpower Frank but provide him with tight and masterful playing. Frank does the same for the band too. Bowing out to let Ellington and his crew take off and shine or set the mood for the next verse of song. I thought I might cringe to hear them do the old top 40 hit "Sunny" but it's one of my favorite songs now. Hearing how Sinatra sings it is amazing. It isn't Sinatra "swinging" It's Sinatra and Elington elegantly "jazzing"