20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Proof Positive., June 14, 2000
This review is from: With Red Norvo Quintet - Live in Australia 1959 (Audio CD)
Too many evaluations of Sinatra focus on the persona and voice at the expense of the musican. In fact, the orchestral arrangements that Sinatra inspires are occasionally used to his discredit, as if to suggest that anyone could sound good singing to a Nelson Riddle arrangement. This rare album should make it clearer than ever that Sinatra's musicianship has no equal. His "internal metronome" almost unerringly places every note on the part of the beat where it's guaranteed to swing. In fact, on "Night and Day," in particular, he uses his voice as a jazz instrumentalist, trading phrases with Red Norvo's vibes. No listener can fail to catch who gets the best of the exchange (there's even an audible "smile" in Sinatra's voice when he upstages Norvo). This album may not belong in a Sinatra collector's top 3, but definitely in the top 10 if not 5 Sinatra treasures.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
sinatras night of jazz, June 12, 2004
This review is from: With Red Norvo Quintet - Live in Australia 1959 (Audio CD)
this is undoubtedly the best recording of sinatra live as youre going to get.
no, i dont mean in recorded sound which it looks like a lot of people are complaining about(just because its not not hi fi dolby 5.0 it doesnt hurt my speakers) but in sheer performance.
sinatra really wasnt a jazz musicican. but this was the one exception. his improvisation is a delight here and its a shame we didnt get more of this.
youll never here a better performed night and day. and even sinatras old standards like ive got you under my skin and i get a kick out of you have new life here.
only willow weep for me falters a bit. this is a songe better performed in a studio with the clarity of pop acoustics.
regardless, this makes for a really fun night of listening.
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A man at his very best, December 19, 2002
This review is from: With Red Norvo Quintet - Live in Australia 1959 (Audio CD)
In the 1950s, Frank Sinatra's days as "The Voice" of World War II were little more than a memory. By 1954 Sinatra had proven himself an artist of substance and depth with recordings like "Young at Heart" and the extended-play album, SONGS FOR YOUNG LOVERS. By '56, with the help of arranger Nelson Riddle, he had firmly established his own brand of swingin' romanticism with a series of groundbreaking Capitol LPs, most notably SONGS FOR SWINGIN' LOVERS (1956) and IN THE WEE SMALL HOURS (1955). In '58 he recorded the most deeply moving album of his career, SINATRA SINGS FOR ONLY THE LONELY, and followed it immediately with COME DANCE WITH ME, arguably the headiest, hardest-swinging set he'd ever wax -- proving that even into his fifth decade, he could make music as pulse-quickening as that of any rock 'n' roller. By the evening of April 1, 1959, he had nothing left to prove.
Entering with "I Could Have Danced All Night," Sinatra moves with the melody, responding to its most nuanced suggestions. He leads one moment, then lets the rhythm guide him the next. He may linger behind the beat ("spread my wings") or move in tandem with it ("I on-ly know"). Cole Porter's "I Get a Kick Out of You" finds him torn between reserve and abandon, less singing than musing out loud, as if the words are just now occurring to him. By the time he swings into "I've Got You Under My Skin," caution has been thrown to the wind; he soars above the tune, like Fred Astaire dancing on air. It hardly matters that "Moonlight in Vermont" could have been cribbed from a Chamber of Commerce brochure; this reverent performance conjures up genuine moonbeams and the unmistakable crispness of a snowy night. And when the singer taxies down the runway for "Come Fly with Me," his flight comes so easily, an airplane could only be superfluous. When he and Red Norvo's understated, gently swinging quintet have taken things as far as they can, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra appears, bringing the event to a boil.
Whatever it is about this particular evening, whether it's his unusually intimate musical accompaniment, the warmth of his Australian hosts, or simply some exceptionally fine pre-show cocktails, Sinatra sounds so relaxed and so elegantly, unerringly sure of his step, he can practically do no wrong. His performance on this recording achieves something far beyond swing, far beyond nostalgic evocations of romance. It encapsulates everything that is good and warm and decent and caring about, not merely music, but masculinity. There's no aggression here, merely strength. There's no sentimentality, merely vulnerability. There's humor without vulgarity (well, for the most part) and intelligence without pretense. The singer's romanticism never loses touch with reality, just as a slight edge of cynicism never threatens to betray the idealism of his sound. LIVE IN AUSTRALIA isn't just an extraordinary musical document of a musical master at a creative peak; it's a digitally encoded facsimile of all the best qualities to which a man can aspire.
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