The great pair of albums by Frank Sinatra backed by
Count Basie and his incredible
orchestra from the early 60s – Sinatra-
Basie from '62 and It Might As Well Be Swing from '64 – together in a single set! Sinatra-
Basie is the inaugural effort from the 2 leaders and the stellar
orchestra – and it's a great one. Sinatra is as charismatic and loose out front as he's ever been on record, and the
Basie & his players swing brilliantly with arrangements by Neal Hefti. Titles include "Pennies From Heaven", "Please Be Kind", "My Kind Of Girl", "Learnin' The Blues", "Nice Work If You Can Get It" and more. It Might As Well Be Swing is simply one of Sinatra's greatest records ever – pure genius all the way through! This one features some incredible arrangements by Quincy Jones that really have a jazzy, syncopated kick to them. This picks up on a seminal beat change in 60s pop, the same sort of gentle snapping groove that you'd find in the best work by Bacharach, a shift that really infuses Frank's vocals with a whole new sound, one that shows that he's ready to keep on growing and growing after being stuck in a Nelson Riddle rut. All tracks are superb – hip 60s pop and show tunes, like "I Believe In You", "Fly Me To the Moon", "More", "The Good Life", "Wives & Lovers", and "I Wanna Be Around".