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A great batch of wonderful music – a well condensed 3 CD set that features some of Sinatra's best recorded during his Capitol tenure! As is well known, Sinatra's Capitol years were his finest – a time when he moved past a simple pop singer into a complicated vocalist with a sense of expression so deep that it lent itself perfectly to the emerging form of the long-playing record. Many of the albums this material is drawn from are early "concept" sets by Sinatra, and feature moods and themes that move far beyond simple vocal work – into richly expressive territory that's hardly ever been matched again! Arrangers include Nelson Riddle, Billy May, Gordon Jenkins, and Alex Stordhal and there's a total of 75 numbers in all included here! CD

A great batch of wonderful music – a well condensed box set that features some of Sinatra's best recorded during his Capitol tenure! As is well known, Sinatra's Capitol years were his finest – a time when he moved past a simple pop singer into a complicated vocalist with a sense of expression so deep that it lent itself perfectly to the emerging form of the long-playing record. Many of the albums this material is drawn from are early "concept" sets by Sinatra, and feature moods and themes that move far beyond simple vocal work – into richly expressive territory that's hardly ever been matched again! Arrangers include Nelson Riddle, Billy May, Gordon Jenkins, and Alex Stordhal and there's a total of 75 numbers in all included here! LP, Vinyl record album

A gem of a 50s album from Frank – well-themed and swinging, with a batch of travel-related tunes that really groove nicely! Billy May handled the arrangements on this one, and he gives the record a nice jazzy finish that fits the globe-trotting tunes well – taking Frank around the world in a song, and returning him home peacefully by the end of the set. Titles include the great originals "Come Fly With Me" and "It's Nice To Go Traveling" – plus "Isle Of Capri", "Around The World", "April In Paris", and "Brazil". CD features 3 bonus tracks too! CD

A treasure trove of wonderful music – a 16 CD box set that features all of Sinatra's albums recorded for Capitol, along with great bonus material! As is well known, Sinatra's Capitol years were his finest – a time when he moved past a simple pop singer into a complicated vocalist with a sense of expression so deep that it lent itself perfectly to the emerging form of the long-playing record. Many of these albums are early "concept" sets by Sinatra, and feature moods and themes that move far beyond simple vocal work – into richly expressive territory that's hardly ever been matched again! Arrangers include Nelson Riddle, Billy May, Gordon Jenkins, and Alex Stordhal – and album titles include Come Fly With Me, Come Swing With Me, Songs For Swingin Lovers, In The Wee Small Hours, Where Are You?, No One Cares, Come Dance With Me, Songs For Young Lovers, Point Of No Return, and even the great instrumental album Frank Sinatra Conducts Tone Poems Of Color! Plus, the set comes with a deluxe hardbound book – 96 pages of notes, photos, and an exclusive essay on Sinatra by Will Friedwald. All albums digitally remastered, and the overall package is wonderful! CD

With the orchestras of Billy May, Gordon Jenkins, Nelson Riddle, and Axel Stordahl. LP, Vinyl record album

One of Frank Sinatra's earliest experiments with instrumental music – a set of tunes composed by Alec Wilder – including some handled by Wilder himself, with a group that includes Mitch Miller on oboe and Julius Baker on flute – in a cool modern chamber jazz mode! CD

An incredible oddity in the Sinatra catalog at Capitol – one of the few albums that actually features him as an orchestra conductor, not a singer. Others we can recall with Frank in this mode are Capitol albums by Peggy Lee and Dean Martin – but Tone Poems is unique, a real "concept" album that has Sinatra working through color-based tunes ("Yellow", "Green", "Red", "Silver", and so on), written by some of the top arrangers of his years, including Nelson Riddle, Billy May, Gordon Jenkins, Andre Previn, and Alec Wilder. The overall approach is more serious and less hokey than you'd expect – and while we certainly miss Frank's vocals, the scope of the album also shows his rich growth as an artist during the Capitol years. LP, Vinyl record album

A live session from Sinatra's autumn years – recorded at the Golden Nugget in 1986, and featuring Ol Blue Eyes in fine fine form! Orchestrations are by Bill Miller, and stick pretty closely to the classic charts penned for Frank from more famous recordings – but the album does have a sense of spontaneity that's pretty great, especially on the bits when Frank gets to talk to the audience. The overall mood isn't as edgey as that from Frank's live Rat Pack recordings, but that quality is also nicely replaced by a sense of power, presence, and relaxed confidence that the live Sinatra was still one of the biggest draws in the business. Titles include the unusual numbers "The Girls I Never Kissed" and "Only One To A Customer" – plus "New York New York", "My Way", "For Once In My Life", "Luck Be A Lady", "What Now My Love", and "I've Got The World On A String". CD

Frank Sinatra's way more than just the teen idol you'd expect from the cover and title – and instead works here as a fully-formed singer who'd go on to forever change the role of adult male vocals in American music! The work is all from Sinatra's early years on Columbia – arranged by Alex Stordahl, at a level that nicely avoids 40s pop cliches, and some of the easier swing modes too – placing Frank in this mature setting that really brings out the best in his individual approach. Titles include his classic reading of "Hello Young Lovers", plus "You'll Never Know", "S'posin", "It All Depends On You", "All Of Me", "Time After Time", and the seminal "Nancy". LP, Vinyl record album

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Very cool 2LP set from Japan that brings together a lot of Sinatra's singles for Capitol – including a lot of tracks that weren't on original LPs. Titles include "You'll Get Yours", "How Are You Fixed For Love", "Mr. Success", "Five Hundred Guys", "Johnny Concho Theme", and a version of "Witchcraft" performed with Keely Smith. The set's got a nice heavy cover, and a good amount of notes on the sessions, including dates, and players in the groups, which you don't always get with Sinatra material! LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

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One of the greatest vocal albums of all time! Sinatra's never sounded better than on this album – one of the first truly cohesive albums of torch and ballad songs ever recorded – done by Frank at a time when his heart was really breaking, and sung with a depth you'd hardly ever find in his other work. The whole thing's sublime – one of the darkest, moodiest selections of material we've ever heard – and the record never fails to send chills down our spine, no matter how many times we hear it! Tracks include "Mood Indigo", "I See Your Face Before Me", "Deep In A Dream", "Ill Wind", "I'll Be Around", "This Love Of Mine", "Dancing On The Ceiling", "Glad To Be Unhappy", and "I Get Along Without You Very Well". CD

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A very cool package – one that has Frank Sinatra narrating his career in music – as he performs re-recorded versions of classics, with backings by Nelson Riddle, Johnny Mandel, Count Basie, Gordon Jenkins, Don Costa, and Billy May! The spoken bits are wonderful – and the whole thing is one of the best "texts" you could ever find on the Sinatra persona in the 60s! CD

A very cool package – one that has Frank Sinatra narrating his career in music – as he performs re-recorded versions of classics, with backings by Nelson Riddle, Johnny Mandel, Count Basie, Gordon Jenkins, Don Costa, and Billy May! The spoken bits are wonderful – and the whole thing is one of the best "texts" you could ever find on the Sinatra persona in the 60s! LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

Tony Bennett pays tribute to Frank Sinatra, supported here by a small jazz trio performing tracks that include "I Wished On The Moon", "Night And Day", "Nancy", "A Foggy Day", "Call Me Irresponsible", and "One For My Baby". CD

One of the few albums ever cut by singer Frank D'Rone – an excellent vocalist in the Pal Joey mode! Frank hailed from Chicago, and was a second (or third) tier singer – a bargain basement Sinatra, with a rougher style that actually has a great edge, and which recalls the tougher days of barroom gigs for singers who weren't so lucky as those with their name in lights. Billy May handled the arrangements on the set, giving D'Rone a swinging, jazzy kind of feel that pushes the record a bit farther than his other Mercury album from the 50s – and the whole thing's brings a nice punchy kind of feel to tracks that include "It's You Or No One", "Warm All Over", "After The Ball", "Oh Look At Me Now", and "Why Can't This Night Go On Forever". CD

Way before Sinatra first grabbed the "Chairman Of The Board" title for his own musical persona, Basie laid great claim to the tag with this tight little album for Roulette! The album's got the 50s Basie band working at the height of their powers – with original compositions written and arranged by Frank Foster, Ernie Wilkins, Thad Jones, and Frank Wess – all of whom play in the bad, along with other all-stars like Freddie Green, Billy Mitchell, and Al Grey. The sound is tight, soulful, and searing Basie all the way through – with tunes that include "Segue In C", "Blues In Hoss' Flat", "Who Me?", "The Deacon", "Half Moon Street", "Mutt & Jeff", "TV Time", "Speaking Of Sounds", and "HRH". CD features 2 bonus tracks – "Fair & Warmer" and "Moten Swing". CD

Way before Sinatra first grabbed the "Chairman Of The Board" title for his own musical persona, Basie laid great claim to the tag with this tight little album for Roulette! The album's got the 50s Basie band working at the height of their powers – with original compositions written and arranged by Frank Foster, Ernie Wilkins, Thad Jones, and Frank Wess – all of whom play in the bad, along with other all-stars like Freddie Green, Billy Mitchell, and Al Grey. The sound is tight, soulful, and searing Basie all the way through – with tunes that include "Segue In C", "Blues In Hoss' Flat", "Who Me?", "The Deacon", "Half Moon Street", "Mutt & Jeff", "TV Time", "Speaking Of Sounds", and "HRH". LP, Vinyl record album

Basie hits the hits of the 50s and early 60s – working here with some tight Billy Byers arrangements that really help transform the tunes! The groove is upbeat, bright, and brilliantly soulful – that punctuated Basie groove first formed when Neal Hefti was with the group, still carried off here wonderfully by a lineup that includes Frank Wess and Frank Foster on saxes, Snooky Young and Al Aarons on trumpets, Benny Powell and Henry Coker on trombones, and Freddie Green on guitar. Titles include "The Second Time Around", "Hey Jealous Lover", "All Of Me", "This Love Of Mine", "Saturday Night", "Come Fly With Me", and "South Of The Border" – almost a Sinatra album in spirit, given the choice of tunes like these! CD

Basie hits the hits of the 50s and early 60s – working here with some tight Billy Byers arrangements that really help transform the tunes! The groove is upbeat, bright, and brilliantly soulful – that punctuated Basie groove first formed when Neal Hefti was with the group, still carried off here wonderfully by a lineup that includes Frank Wess and Frank Foster on saxes, Snooky Young and Al Aarons on trumpets, Benny Powell and Henry Coker on trombones, and Freddie Green on guitar. Titles include "The Second Time Around", "Hey Jealous Lover", "All Of Me", "This Love Of Mine", "Saturday Night", "Come Fly With Me", and "South Of The Border" – almost a Sinatra album in spirit, given the choice of tunes like these! LP, Vinyl record album

Some of the best recent work we've heard from Brazilian singer Dick Farney – a traditional jazz styled vocalist in the manner of Frank Sinatra or Mel Torme. The set's a live one, with plenty of jazzy piano in a stripped-down setting that reminds us of some of Tony Bennett's recent albums – except for the fact that Farney sings in a more bossa-oriented style on a few tracks, which Bennett would never do. Titles include "Ponto Final", "Nick Bar", "Aeromoca", "Night & Day", "Noturno Em Sao Paulo", "The Lady Is A Tramp", "All The Way", and "Solidao". CD

One of the greatest writers on singers presents his essential collection of albums from the 20th century – all served up with the kind of loving detail that's always made the prose of Will Friedwald so great! Will's written the book on Frank Sinatra – literally – and on Tony Bennett, and a number of other singers too – and you've no doubt stumbled across his words in liner notes for reissues over the years. This time, Friedwald expands that later genre – and offers up full chapters that go in depth to some key vocal jazz classics – including Something Cool by June Christy, My Gentleman Friend by Blossom Dearie, Ella In Berlin by Ella Fitzgerald, John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman, Rain Or Shine by Dick Haymes, Lady In Satin by Billie Holiday, Black Coffee by Peggy Lee, and even Belly Of The Sun by Cassandra Wilson! There's a few dozen more titles covered in the book – which has 51 chapters in all – and the heavy book also features an album cover reproduction for each title, and a discography as well. 402 pages, hardcover. Book

A surprising Bud Powell album for Reprise Records – and one of the label's hippest jazz titles ever! When Frank Sinatra first started up the Reprise imprint, he let Duke Ellington do a bit of A&R for the jazz division – and one of the first things Ellington did was capture the great Bud Powell in his then-local setting of Paris – in this rough edgey session that turned out to be one of Powell's last albums, and one of his best from the 60s. The record is nothing fancy on the outside – just simple piano trio versions of jazz standards like "Parisian Thoroughfare", "I Can't Get Started", "Jordu", and "Dear Old Stockholm" – but Powell's dark genius turns the tracks into jagged little razors, cutting with an emotional depth that's quite surprising. Duke Ellington produced – and trio members include Gilbert Rovere on bass and Carl Fields on drums. LP, Vinyl record album

One of the greatest, straightest sets from Mel Torme – an all-classic batch of tracks that's quite different than his other album for Columbia! Torme checks in as a totally committed, totally serious jazz vocalist here – with an impeccable approach to the music that puts this album right up there with the best work of Frank Sinatra or Tony Bennett – very mature, but very personal too – in a way that really transforms familiar tunes. Arrangements are by Robert Mersey, who handles Torme with the best care he's had since the classic 50s recordings with Marty Paich – and titles include "PS I Love You", "The Nearness Of You", "Haven't We Met", and "Ho Ba La La". LP, Vinyl record album

Music from Helen Forrest, Betty Jane Rhodes, Dinah Shore, Kitty Kallen, Frank Sinatra, Jo Stafford, Doris Day, Carol Channing, Dolores Gray, Tony Bennett, and more. CD

Includes tracks by Quincy Jones, Count Basie, Ray Charles, Lionel Hampton, Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughan, Aretha Franklin, and more. CD

Featuring music from Arthur "Dooley" Wilson, Tommy Dorsey, Louis Armstrong, Chick Webb, Django Reinhardt, Harry James, Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller, Artie Shaw, Frank Sinatra, Duke Ellington, Carmen Miranda, Erroll Garner, Bob Crosby, Al Jolson, Bix Beiderbecke, Billie Holiday, and Carmen Cavallaro. CD

Includes one disc each dedicated to Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan, Louis Armstrong, Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Lena Horne, Perry Como, the Andrews Sisters, Bing Crosby, and Ella Fitzgerald. CD

A beautifully dramatic score by Elmer Bernstein – one that has some of the jazzier touches of his earlier work in the 50s, but which also shows a wonderfully sensitive side as well! The music is perfect for the film – which stars Frank Sinatra in one of his best dramatic roles, alongside Dean Martin, who's pretty darn great too – and Bernstein's score is filled with lush colors, subtle moods, and a slight undercurrent of anger – just the right balance for the narrative. Orchestrations are relatively full throughout, but have some passages that are a bit more lean – especially in a few of the more intimate scene settings. Titles include "Prelude", "To Love & Be Loved", "Live It Up", "Tryst", "Seduction", "Smitty's Place", "Ginny", and "Fight". LP, Vinyl record album

A later entry in Ella's Songbook series for Verve – but a great one too, thanks to some strong arrangements from Nelson Riddle! Riddle's working here at a level that he brought to his earlier sessions with Frank Sinatra – one that colors in the tunes with just the right amount of shadings needed for each different composition, but which also still leaves plenty of space for the vocalist to dominate the recordings. Ella's in fine form throughout – swinging easily on the more upbeat numbers, but also balancing things out with some thoughtful ballad work that stands as some of her best of the 60s. Titles include "Let's Begin", "Remind Me", "Yesterdays", "Why Was I Born", "She Didn't Say Yes", and "You Couldn't Be Cuter". CD