Customer Reviews

Sinatra & Swingin Brass

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Sinatra and Swingin' Brass has its moments -- Hefti was known for upbeat, feisty arrangements (his Atomic Basie album, arranged for/performed by Count Basie, is excellent) -- and if you enjoy the faster, hipper style of the early 1960s this album is very satisfying.

Apart from 'Goody Goody', which was an old Big Band era song that wasn't so great even back then, most of the songs are solid Sinatra material -- many are remakes. 'I Get A Kick Out of You' appeared on the classic Songs For Young Lovers album of 1953, 'At Long Last Love' and 'They Can't Take That Away from Me' are also remade, but with new arrangements these are like old friends with a new angle. The risk with remaking Sinatra songs (such as 'You Brought a New Kind of Love to Me' on the original CD release) is that the originals were usually definitive and defy improvement. Hefti's brass arrangements make up in excitement what they lack in subtlety, but it's a different experience.

'Tangerine' and 'Love is Just Around the Corner' are new on this album (for FS) and work perfectly with the Hefti approach, as does 'Pick Yourself Up'. 'At Long Last Love' is nicely updated.

On the original CD release, Reprise included 'Everybody's Twistin' -- an embarassment -- as well as 'Nothing But the Best' and 'You Brought a New Kind of Love to Me', these last two tracks worthy of a listen. I have not traded my original CD for the remastered release because of this, but either way Sinatra and Swingin' Brass is a fast romp, Sinatra's closest effort to a jazz album. Recommended.

Sinatra and Swingin' Brass may have a few critics out there but I for one enjoyed this album immensely. Franks sings very well on this CD and just one listen proves it amply! The quality of the sound is excellent and the artwork reflects very good judgment and forethought. This is a must-have CD for Frank Sinatra fans.

"Goody, Goody" features a strong performance from The Chairman Of The Board; he handles this like the champ he always was and that impresses me. Frank's rendition plays with the melody somewhat to make this piece his own; there are a few good key and tempo changes to make this number sound fresh and new as well. Great! "They Can't Take That Away From Me" has Frank singing so well; he singing joyously of the thrills of true love and this makes Frank's rendition THE definitive rendition of this classic ballad. Frank's voice never sounded better, either! There's also "At Long Last Love;" "At Long Last Love" has a swell brass section and the percussion marks the beat in the background as Frank belts this one straight out of the ballpark!

"I'm Beginning To See The Light" was always one of my favorite classic pop songs; and I absolutely love Frank's interpretation of this ballad. The orchestral accompaniment fits in perfectly with Frank's vocals and he delivers this way beyond my expectations--even for him! "I'm Beginning To See The Light" is clearly a major highlight of this CD.

"I Get A Kick Out Of You" showcases Frank front and center--and that's great in my book! Frank sings this as he swings brightly to make this number his own. The tempo changes enhance the beauty of this tune and that brass section again complements Frank's singing very well. "I Get A Kick Out Of You" is another major highlight of this album. "Tangerine" is another one of my favorite tunes; Frank gives this his all and he delivers this with heart and soul--beautiful! "Tangerine" is one of those numbers that make people worship Frank for his excellent vocal talents. There's no wonder as to why!

"Ain't She Sweet?" has Frank doing a fine cover of this very old song; but he delivers it with panache and all the elegance of a finely tuned singer and recording artist. "Ain't She Sweet?" is a cute number; and "I Love You" gets a royal treatment from Frank who makes this sound like "the song of songs;" I'm sure you'll like this one very much. The album also ends very strong with Sinatra singing "Pick Yourself Up;" "Pick Yourself Up" is a splendid classic number that Frank makes timeless with his treatment of it and the brass section along with the rest of the band work wonders for this ballad.

Frank Sinatra sang so beautifully I don't know if we'll ever see another male singer quite like him ever again. This album is terrific for his fans and it makes a sine starter CD for newcomers to Frank's artistry. I also recommend this CD for people who enjoy classic pop vocals.

Thank you, Frank! We will never forget you!

I know that calling Sinatra "underrated" may surprise some, but until the man reached 80 I found Sinatra haters more the rule than the exception. Didn't matter if they were Beatles contemporaries such as myself, Sinatra contemporaries and members of Brokaw's greatest generation, self-proclaimed classical music and opera experts, or in some cases fans of Broadway and the Great American Songbook who viewed Sinatra as some sort of vulgar "deviation." All I remember is years of arguing about and defending the musician and artist who was not only the supreme pop culture entertainer of the 20th century but the last interpreter, in fact, of the "repertory" of Porter, Berlin, Kern, Gershwin, Rodgers&Hart/Hammerstein, Arlen, Van Heusen, Styne, Young to a mass popular audience. If any further evidence of Sinatra's underappreciated artistry is needed, it's the fact that his 2 worst albums--Duets I and II--were his biggest sellers ever.

So enormous is Sinatra's artistry and recorded ouevre that it's all too easy to overlook this rarely mentioned title. It's one of his best. No special surprises--just scintillating, felicitous, inspired Sinatra all the way. He's more tenor than baritone on this album. In fact, I detect a playful, "boyish" quality in his melodic alterations as well as the timbre of his voice that's not present on the other early Reprise sessions.

Listen to "Love Is Just Around the Corner" and the "twinkle in his throat" at "when I'm around you." Or compare this version of "Serenade in Blue" to the more perfunctory version on "I Remember Tommy." And what better moment for Sinatra to pull out, let alone pull off, a perfectly charming version of a potentially lethal period piece, "Ain't She Sweet?"

But my favorite selection on the whole album is "Don'Cha Go 'Way Mad" which, despite tricky arpeggiated chords moving up chromatically, is executed with such finesse you almost forget to mention that the album also contains "the" definitive recorded version of "I Get a Kick Out of You." Sinatra's legacy is so overwhelming that underestimating or overlooking parts of it is probably forgivable and should be viewed, in fact, as a compliment to the man's towering genius.

There are only a dozen songs on my edition of this 1962 Reprise effort by Frank, adding up to a half-hour of jazzy uptempo moods. So your happiness with this might depend on the price you pay as well as how big a Sinatra fan you are. I ended up investing exactly fifty cents a song, and for my taste, that's quite a bargain. Shop around the auctions for used copies if you are cheap like me. I really like this one. Perhaps not quite as good as his Capitol albums "Come Swing With Me" and "Songs for Swingin' Lovers" but mighty close. Picking between this one and those two is a matter of personal taste, not of artistry. After all, it is Sinatra, which means near-perfection in the way he lays each word of each song and each breath inbetween onto the master disc. Hefti's band and arrangements here are apparently too prominent for some tastes, but I liked the orchestrations. If Franks sings too fast for you on this one, be sure to buy "In the Wee Small Hours" or "Only the Lonely" or "September of My Years" for the melancholy side of the artist. I don't like EVERYTHING Frank ever did: I can live without "My Way" and lots of other tracks less famous. But the dozen happy tunes here are all good.

Sinatra in his prime never sounded better. And Neal Hefti's arrangements are superb. In fact, if all you got on this CD was the orchestra, you would get your money's worth. This 1962 session really swings. Remastered stereo recording quality is excellent. Highly recommended.

Note: The last 3 song titles listed above are not on this CD, but you won't miss them.

Disregard the above pans of this recording as the self-appointed critics seem to have missed the point entirely aaaaas the name of the cd IS "Swingin' BRASS" (my emphasis) after all, and yes, it's arranged and conducted by Neal Hefti, after all. Hard-driving, bold and relentlessly "swingin'", fou fou slipper-wearing, shirley temple-swigging effetes have been known to run out of rooms (or alternatively, to desperately peck away at their keyboards to voice their outrage) offended to the core by the lack of subtlety displayed in these tracks, and good riddance. A-a-a-nd contrary to what you've read elsewhere, "everybody's twistin" is a hoot and an irresistable finger-snapper and only those devoid of any sense of fun and irony will find this cut objectionable. To paraphrase a Madison Avenue-coined phrase from a few years back, "BUY it...you'll LIKE it".

When I first heard this album many years ago I was in the company of many fine musicians in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. The guys in the ships orchestra told me " You gotta hear this, i'ts the best Sinatra album. Right 'on the nose' and 'in the pocket'. This album is musicians playing for musicians. Fabulous.

If you don't own one album of Sinatra's...start with this one. Several of the songs here are re-done...Sinatra had previously recorded them and released them at Capitol. But the versions here are superb. "They Can't Take That Away From Me," "At Long Last Love," "I Get a Kick Out of You." The Highlights here are "Tangerine" and "I Love You," not to be confused with the version on "Come Swing With Me," that is great too, but this one is excellent. The instruments here are stunning...they run chills through my spine and makes me feel happy all over. "Doncha Go Away Mad" "Goody Goody," "Love Is Just Around the Corner"...all the songs here are top-notch, Sinatra at his best, EVEN if he was suffering from a cold at the time of the session.

I highly recommend this album to anyone who can appreciate good music.

This is an album which any regular guy can listen to and immediately feel cool. There is an element about the way Hefti arranged these songs that makes them different from other Sinatra classics. There is that smooth, not-too-brash, not-too-soft quality about the horns themselves and to top it off- you can picture Sinatra's face when you hear this stuff. It is the face that made him the coolest man that ever lived. The laid back, lack-of-effort expression that only he could pull off while laying down twelve taunting tracks, each of them with the musical bravado that could be used somewhere on probably every movie soundtrack in history.
And hey- show me one woman that would still refuse to forgive Frank for cheating on her after he sang her "Don'cha Go 'Way Mad"!

This album by Frank Sinatra was recorded in April 1962. It features mostly medium-bounce to bustling tempos, and crackling brass against mellow reeds. The songs were arranged by Neal Hefti. Most of the songs had been recorded by Sinatra before, but of course with different arrangements. Sinatra sings all the songs very well, of course, and the uptempo arrangements make for a fun album. My version of this CD features three bonus tracks, all of which I enjoy (even the much maligned "Everybody's Twistin'").