By Paul Goldfinger
July 14, 2012, in the Great Auditorium: The Frank Sinatra, Jr. concert was wonderful, exceeding all expectations. His performance was polished, and his co-star for the show was a magnificent 20 piece jazz orchestra. They had four trombones, 5 trumpets, a full sax section and even a french horn, a harp, 2 percussionists, a guitarist and a keyboardist. The sound of that big band was awesome, and the enthusiasm of the musicians was evident from start to finish. It was a beautiful tribute to Frank Sinatra, Sr., and his son filled the show with Sinatra standards.
Frank Sinatra, Jr. is his own man and should be appreciated on his own terms rather than by comparison with his dad, whose legacy will never be matched. But the truth is that the genetics are readily apparent and can’t be denied. Mr. Sinatra, age 68, has inherited his father’s effortless style and marvelous phrasing. In addition, Frank Jr. is a terrific interpreter of his father’s music. He has the feel for the lyrics and the respect for that era which are essential for this sort of show. He seems a bit stiff on stage, but his persona warmed up as the show went on. He chatted with the audience, providing some interesting historical perspective to the music. He gave credit to Gordon Jenkins, the long-time Sinatra arranger , whose charts were used for this show.
One song which he did, “The Summer Wind,” fit perfectly for the Great Auditorium because it reminded most of us of the big summer wind, Irene, which blew Frank’s concert last year into oblivion—the concert was cancelled. But this time— and the tickets from last year were honored— everyone appreciated the warm summer breezes floating intermittently thought the open doors of the GA.
A large audience gave the band and Mr. Sinatra a well-deserved standing ovation at the end. Not only was it a fine performance, but the effect, for those who love this music, was emotional and also surreal—-you could not help but feel like you had gone back in time to hear “old blue eyes” himself, performing in front of one of those big bands that were so popular back then.
Here is Frank Sinatra, Jr. performing “You’ll Never Know” from his album “That Face.”
And here is Frank Sinatra, Sr. perfoming “The Summer Wind.” (We couldn’t locate a Frank, Jr. version, but he did it very well last night.)
We didn’t attend last night’s concert, so are in no position to judge the quality of the performance. But listening to Junior’s voice on this “You’ll Never Know recording” made me go “Eeewww.” Couldn’t get past the first 30 seconds. Anyone else out there feel the same? I always enjoyed Senior’s recordings/voice (and still do).
He does sound a bit off in that recording. It’s the only recording I could find on line. But, last night and with that band, he did sound better than that. It’s really the whole package to appreciate: the songs, the style of the singer,the arrangements, the band, the nostalgia and the voice.
People are sentimental about Frank Sr. for good reasons, among which include the internet quote below:
“As Gore Vidal remarked, it was likely that 50% of the current population of North America was conceived while Frank Sinatra was singing in the background. He was quite possibly right. ” I think the other 50% could be attributed to Johnny Mathis—maybe we need a Blogfinger poll about “make-out music.”
A point of reference on this “makeout” competition can be found in the classic film, DINER, where the young guys —- Mickey Rourke, Kevin Bacon, Steve Guttenberg, Paul Reiser, Timothy Daly and Daniel Stern—– debate the two singers and declare Johnny Mathis the winner.
I don’t think that he sounded anything like his dad, but I did like his singing.
Nice article, Paul. I agree with your take on Mr. Sinatra’s wonderful performance. Maybe Mr. Sinatra was a little stiff-looking because it was probably quite warm on stage but he “warmed up” as his concert went on. I think he sounded most like his father during the last song he sang which was New York, New York. All in all it was a very enjoyable concert especially with the absence of the huge amps that some of the performers use. They weren’t needed given the great acoustics of the auditorium and Mr. Sinatra’s pleasing voice.
Its disappointing that Johnny Mathis won’t be performing in OG after all. I hope he can be rescheduled for next year.