Customer Reviews

Sinatra/Jobim: The Complete Reprise Recordings

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This title has long been wanted by fans, yet sadly, this Concord release does not quite live up to that expectation. My initial thoughts when listening in the car on the way home from the store where I bought the disc was that the disc sounded great and that the mastering sounded pretty good.

Later on, at home, with more time and better hardware to critically examine the disc, it became clear that the new disc wasn't all it could be. Yes, the songs are all there in all their glory; yes, the reverb was toned down from prior releases; but something was not quite right.

Digging out the old LPs and CDs of this material, I found the situation getting clearer. One thing that immediately jumped out at me was the narrowing of the stereo on many of the tracks. To me, the old late '60s style of stereo separation was something to be enjoyed. Just like on the old Beatles records, certain placements of sounds in the hard right or hard left are simply part of the experience of these tracks. To now change that to something less removes something from that experience.

A good example is on the track "Drinking Water (Agua de Beber)". On that track, on both the old LP and CD of SINATRA AND COMPANY, we can hear Antonio Carlos Jobim's vocals in the hard left channel. Here on the new disc, that vocal is now nearly centered, vaguely toward the right of the stereo image. The other instrumentation on these tracks is also compromised, moving from a hard left or right positioning to nearer the center, basically removing the exciting nature of the old stereo.

I can understand *why* this is done - it's a function of the "headphone" generation. People all over the world are listening to their music on portable players with headphones, and the fact is that older stereo, with hard left or right panning, becomes a little uncomfortable under those circumstances. So, the mastering decisions are now made with that audience in mind. It bothers me that we who are not headphone-bound have to suffer because of those who are.

I've since learned from reports on the Internet that some edits to the original material (done to polish up the original recordings) have been missed in this version. As a result, some "wrong notes" are leaking through on this edition, like the word "day" at 1:11 in "The Girl From Ipanema". There are a few other examples like that, but this one's probably the worst.

The new SINATRA/JOBIM disc may be useful for a lot of people who've never heard the three rarer tracks. It puts them all in one handy place (albeit with an unfortunately compromised stereo image).

I love the music on this CD, and have in the many editions I've purchased over the years. My beef is with 1.) The sonics on this new (and poor sounding) remix, and 2.) the five (yes five) chosen-for-artisitic-reasons edits that were in the original mixes that were ignored when the remix was put together, meaning now we get to hear "warts" that could easily have been worked around, just as they were on the previous mix. (The painfully obvious one: the wrong bass note at 2:24 in Corcovado.)

If you listen on a boom box or iPod, the new CD will prove to be a perfectly fine source. If you listen critically, stick with the previous CD issues. The convenience of a single disc here is a nice feature, but the sound? Not so much.

Ask any serious Sinatra fan to "name your `Top 5' albums by your favorite singer" and "SINATRA/JOBIM" is almost certain to make their list. (In fact, it's `Number 6' on mine, and I own 70 Sinatra CDs!)

This newly re-mastered CONCORD edition comprises TWO albums, plus some bonus tracks some of us had not heard before (at least not till recently -- on SiriuslySinatra satellite radio). The `previously unreleased' rarities include "SONG OF THE SABIA" and "BONITA."

Though it didn't merit a mention in the "Amazon Product Description," close to half these wonderful songs were orchestrated/conducted by Brazil's Eumir Deodato, shortly before his own, instrumental, `solo' career really took off, (selling millions of albums in the early 70s as the acknowledged precursor of today's "soft jazz").

[Like the other gifted arranger featured here, Polish-born Claus Ogerman, Eumir Deodato is alive & well (living in Rio) and still happily arranging for other artists. And for the record, Deodato will still tell you that his arrangement for Sinatra's `definitive' performance of "WAVE" (still my favorite track here) remains one of the `peak experiences' of his life.]

A lyricist who wrote four of the songs here, Canadian-born Gene Lees died two weeks ago (April 22) at his home in California, (leaving behind an unfinished biography of his good friend Artie Shaw). Lees was `present at the creation' that magic night in 1967: He was there at Sinatra's invitation in the recording studio, holding his breath in silence, his heart brimming with joy, as Sinatra delivered "the definitive reading" of "QUIET NIGHTS OF QUIET STARS." (Lees also co-wrote `Track 2' here, "DINDI," as well as "SOMEONE TO LIGHT UP MY LIFE" and (my personal favorite of his up-tempo songs) "THIS HAPPY MADNESS."

There isn't a bad track here, though the duet of DESAFINADO (in which Sinatra and Jobim exchange the pleasantries of lovers) doesn't work quite so well: Perhaps the producers agreed? It might explain why this one (English sub-titled, "OFF KEY") had to wait 40 years to see the light of day on this "complete" collection of 20 songs.

Gene Lees (82 when he left us) would likely have written his own appreciation for this beautifully-packaged set. Concerning one of his four songs here, `DINDI" (pronounced JIN-jee) Lees said that Sinatra's interpretation . . .

" . . . sends chills up my arms and back. Sinatra's reading [of Dindi] is one of the most exquisite things ever to come out of American popular music."

Lees wrote at the time that "arranger Claus Ogerman, who had been flown to Los Angeles from New York to write and conduct the arrangements, is [standing] ready. Brazilian drummer Dom um Romao, who had been flown out from Chicago to get a better bossa nova feeling than American drummers [were] capable of, touches his cymbals. They start.

"The first song is "ONCE I LOVED." They go through it, Sinatra not really getting into it properly. He sings well, but not with his usual depth of understanding. After a while, he consults with Ogerman and says into the microphone to producer Sonny Burke in the booth, `Let's go on. Let's do "QUIET NIGHTS."

"I tense up like a watchspring. I wrote this lyric and no singer has ever sung it absolutely accurately, a problem that bugged Jobim and me for five years . . . They start, and I barely breathe. As Jobim said, `This man is Mount Everest for a songwriter' [meaning] if Sinatra gets it right, we can quit worrying.

"He does, and I realize that what I've heard about Sinatra's respect for the songwriter's intentions is quite correct. They do it again [on the second take] and raise the level even further, and at last they're satisfied."

[Later that same evening Sinatra will slip into the next recording studio and with a smaller group of musicians, record Something Stupid with his first-born, Nancy. Lees recalled]

"As the date progresses, the atmosphere grows looser. By now the control booth is crowded . . . singer Keely Smith dropped by to listen. Nancy Sinatra, much prettier and softer than she seems in photographs, comes in with several friends. She walks into the studio to see her father. He hugs her and grins. He has a warm rich smile. Then, they do another tune."

One last thought from the composer of "QUIET NIGHTS" - concerning Sinatra's take on DINDI:

"It is filled with longing. It aches. Somewhere within him, Frank Sinatra aches. And that's fine. That's the way it's always been; the audience's pleasure derives from the artist's pain."

-- Gene Lees (1967)

Several reviewers have stated that edits made to correct flaws in the original vocal and instrumental performances were ignored in the preparation of this disc. As soon as I put the disc in my car CD player I, too, knew that something was amiss. But I got that feeling almost immediately on the very first track ("The Girl From Ipanema") long before the "clam" on the word "day" that everyone is talking about. I immediately realized that the entire vocal for this classic song was an alternate to the one used on the original LP (and the first CD versions). Listen to the phrasing of the very first verse and you'll see what I mean. On the original, Sinatra uses short pauses to emphasize "tan", "young" and "lovely" and a brief pause between "the girl from Ipanema goes walking and" and "when she passes each one she passes..." This way of phrasing gave the song its laidback, understated, relaxing bossa-nova feel. The vocal we get on this release is Frank rushing through the entire first verse (one VERY long sentence) as if he's in a race with himself and daring himself not to take a breath. Ironically, the legato phrasing for which Sinatra is justifiably famous and admired is not the best way to put this song over and I will guarantee that Frank knew it, made adjustments and got it right on the next take. Why this alternate vocal was used is anyone's guess but I've got a feeling that alternate vocals, or portions thereof, were used on other songs on this disc as well. Many of them just don't sound like the original LP.

There are also several crackling sounds present in the early moments of "Dindi" that mar that classic performance as well. These cases, plus the ones cited by other reviewers, render this disc virtually unlistenable to those of us who regard these performances among the most memorable and pleasurable in Sinatra's vast catalogue. Truly a crying shame.

I have always liked Bossa Nova - my first Jazz CD was "Getz/Gilberto". Most of these songs I am familiar with on the original Portuguese, I've heard them that way for decades. A few of Jobim's songs were translated over the years, but not that many. Portuguese is a wonderfully mellifluous language, someone could read the phone book in Portuguese and it would sound good. Other than the Getz Bossa Nova albums I like "Tom and Elis". If you look at Samba, it is much more percussive and upbeat whereas Jobim's Bossa Nova lends itself to melancholy treatment by Getz or Sinatra. For what it's worth, Jobim himself preferred these heavily orchestrated versions of his works to to the leaner version on "Getz/Gilberto", "Jazz Samba" and "Tom and Elis".

Despite the rave reviews elsewhere, I thought "Francis Albert Sinatra and Antonio Carlos Jobim" was disappointing, much too short and I had no idea why songs like "Baubles, Bangles and Beeds", "Change Partners" and "I Concentrate on You", non-Jobim song were included when so many of my favorite Jobim songs were missing.

Well I found this new "Sinatra/Jobim" compilation just wonderful. There are a lot more of the missing Jobim songs from that other album but more important there are translations! I don't know if these are real translations, I don't speak Portuguese, sometimes singers just make up new words. But herein Sinatra does his peerless job of presenting the true emotional feelings behind the lyrics. Particularly good are his renderings or translations of "Agua de Beber", "Desafinado", "Samba de Uma Nota So", "Wave" and "Triste". Even if the older Sinatra does have a little trouble reaching that last note in "Wave", what he looses in tonal accuracy, he gains in emotional depth.

I love early Sinatra's stuff, I mostly like his Capitol records and pre-fifties treatments, where he poured his soul into the singing. When he was in love with Ava Gardner, when he had the mob make an offer to a Hollywood director that he couldn't refuse to get Sinatra into "From Here to Eternity" and save his career. Much of his post 1960 Reprise/Rat Pack/Ringa ding ding stuff leaves me cold. But on this two album combo Concord has put together memorable Sinatra with translations of great Jobim songs I've never heard before. "Sinatra/Jobim" is much more Jobim than "Francis Albert Sinatra and Antonio Carlos Jobim".

Recommended

I love this CD. I've listened to it maybe twenty times in the past couple weeks. I love both Sinatra and Jobim. My sense from listening may be mistaken, but I imagine Sinatra not being well-acquainted with some of these songs. With the older swing tunes, he is perfectly at ease, but with a lot of the bossa nova pieces, I imagined him reading the music as he sang. He hits the notes and the sound is beautiful, but he doesn't really make the songs his own. That's why I've given this 4 stars. By contrast, there's a YouTube clip of Sinatra and Jobim on stage where Sinatra is perfectly comfortable with everything they sing and performs it flawlessly and with great flair. (It's interesting to see him lighting up a cigarette and smoking during the medley--how times change.) I with Sinatra sounded as comfortable with the songs here. I suppose that by the time he sang them on TV, he'd become a lot more familiar with them.

I purchased the original Sinatra/Jobim LP at the Army PX in the late 60's just when both Bossa Nova and Sinatras Reprise label were "the sound" in High Fidelty and Jazz/Pop. A digital CD was released by Reprise in the 1990's. I have all three versions of the recordings and still find the LP, even with early Dolby noise reduction, to still be the warmer and sonicly balanced of all three versions. For those who havent a clue of what I just said, then you need to purchase this disc. It's Sinatra/Ogerman/Jobim at their very best. Sinatras voice was at it's best, full of warmth and expression with Jobims music, new chords, melodies and lyrics riding on the orchestrations of Claus Ogerman provided both we Sinatra and Jazz fans with a embarasment of riches. Ogermans charts are right on and the colaberation of all three musicians is more than evident. Tracks 11-20 of the Sinatra/Jobim disc gives the listener a chance to hear other tunes from a later session, with arrangements by Eumir Dedato and orchestra conductor Morris Stolof. Not quite up to par with Ogermann but still quality work. These tunes didn't make the cut because quality LP's usually held no more than six cuts (songs) per side and I'm sure that the later session was not quite up to Franks standards. My feeling as a musician and recording engineer is that here you have one of the best if not unusual discs of the Sinatra songbook. His voice is dead on, Jobim at his creative best and whats left to say about any arranger who worked with Frank with Claus Ogerman at his best. The Amazon price was a steal and shipping was free for this one.

Two of the finest recordings Sinatra ever made, in the eyes of many collectors, are the cuts of Dindi and Song of the Sabia in the Jobim sessions. One, Dindi, appeared in the first Jobim album, and was immediately recognized as a classic. The other, Sabia, was never released, and was available only as a bootleg among collectors. A mystery is why it was not included in the 2nd partial Jobim album, Sinatra and Company. The relaxed Bossa Nova style suited Sinatra to a tee in this phase of his career--not too demanding vocally--allowing him to focus on his great talent for expression. That he was also in good voice for these sessions--not always the case in the Reprise period--is also a plus. That both songs are included in this album makes it worthwhile to own. Plus Ogerman's splendid arrangements--in my view probably the best, with Riddle, of the Reprise period.

In spite of negative reviews, I bought this CD, at least for the great cover picture. Yes, all the critical notes are true, and I won't replicate them. My own impression is like the fine artwork and negligent sound remastering were performed on different planets with no connection, no central management and no general concept. That is strange for the label specializing in serious hi-end recordings.

So, if you wish to have the complete Sinatra-Jobim recording and you don't care much for quality of the sound, if you don't care if it's stereo or mono, this compilation will hardly disappoint you. But if you want to listen to real stereo hi-fi, with clear and detailed sound, I would recommend (just as I followed someone's advice here at Amazon) combining previously released and still available on CD "Frank Albert Sinatra and Antonio Carlos Jobim" (originally recorded in 1967), with the first seven tracks of "Sinatra and Company" (the tracks were recorded in 1969 and issued in 1971). Then you will have a great CDR compilation with 17 original Sinatra-Jobim stereo tracks. Why only 17 and not all 20? As Stan "Underwood" Cornyn wrote in his linear notes to this "Complete Reprise Recordings", "The Song of the Sabia", "Bonita", and even the all time hit "Desafinado" were rejected by Sinatra himself. He just said one word: "off". And then a short phone call to Warner-Reprise: "Kill the album". That's why the second Sinatra-Jobim album was never released after the first 3500 tape copies were destroyed. "Sinatra did never ever want to be heard struggling at the mike", writes Stan Cornyn. Only in 1971 Reprise issued that "Sinatra and Company" with Side 2 fleshed out with 7 songs that can only be interesting in terms of history. I believe that since Sinatra didn't want anything he did to be published, it should not have been published. Funny, but before I read the linear notes, I listened to the disc and didn't like exactly those three. So, in my opinion, the 17 tracks are quite enough.

Although I already had the first Sinatra-Jobim album, I don't regret spending $15 on this CD, and then additional $10 on "Sinatra and Company". Now I have not only a great 17-tracks Sinatra-Jobim CDR compilation, but a jewel case for it with that fine cover picture and, at last, a 20 pages booklet with a very interesting story inside about how it all was done.

Simply amazing.
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I'm a huge fan of Frank's. Yah, we're on a first-name basis, He and I.
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This album is like butter. Frank said of this album, that he "hadn't sung so softly since the time he lost his voice". And it shows - it's just glorious.
Frank heard some Samba tunes before he made this, and he was hooked. He wanted to sort of introduce that vibe to the American public, and so he recorded with Jobim.
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Now, I won't go into detail here about this disc: It's actually 2 albums (or 1 and 3/4 albums, if you want to get technical), but it's just pure awesomeness. Also - Frank hits his lowest recorded note ever during a song on this CD. I could tell you what it is, but really you need to but this and hear it for yourself. Man, it's just a smooooooth album. I love it.