Tag: Frank Sinatra

Title: Frank Sinatra – Point Of No Return (1962) [MFSL 2013]
Genre: Jazz
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

At the time he recorded his final Capitol album, Point of No Return, Frank Sinatra was no longer interested in giving his record label first-rate material, preferring to save that for his new label, Reprise. However, someone persuaded the singer to make the album a special occasion by reuniting with Axel Stordahl, the arranger/conductor who helped Sinatra rise to stardom in the ’40s; he also arranged the vocalist’s first Capitol session, so his presence gave a nice sense of closure to the Capitol era. Even though the Voice gave a more heartfelt, dedicated performance than expected, the project was rushed along, necessitating the use of a ghost-arranger, Heine Beau, for several tracks. Point of No Return remains a touching farewell, consisting of moving renditions of standards like “September Song,” “There Will Never Be Another You,” “I’ll Remember April,” and “These Foolish Things,” with only three charts being replications of their previous work (“I’ll Be Seeing You,” “September Song,” “These Foolish Things”). Sinatra would never sing these standards with such detailed, ornate orchestrations, and, as such, the album has a feeling of an elegy.

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Title: Frank Sinatra – No One Cares (1959) [MFSL 2013]
Genre: Jazz
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Frank Sinatra’s second set of torch songs recorded with Gordon Jenkins, No One Cares was nearly as good as its predecessor, Where Are You? Expanding the melancholy tone of the duo’s previous collaboration, No One Cares consists of nothing but brooding, lonely songs. Jenkins gives the songs a subtley tragic treatment, and Sinatra responds with a wrenching performance. It lacks the grandiose melancholy of Only the Lonely, nor is it as lsuh as Where Are You?, but in its slow, bluesly tempos and heartbreaking little flourishes, it is every bit moving.

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Title: Frank Sinatra – A Swingin’ Affair! (1957) [MFSL 2014]
Genre: Jazz
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

In some ways, A Swingin’ Affair! is “Songs for Swingin’ Lovers!, Pt. 2,” following the same formula of Sinatra’s hit album of the previous year. Beneath the surface, there are enough variations on A Swingin’ Affair! to make it a distinctive, and equally enjoyable listen. The most noticeable difference between the two records is their basic approach. Where Songs for Swingin’ Lovers! swung hard but managed to stay rather light, A Swingin’ Affair! is a forceful, brassy album — it exudes a self-assured, confident aura. It is a hard, jazzy album. However, the attack is more brash.

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