SwingDJs

Yakov wrote:i found a three-LP set in my grandmother's collection from Capitol records... some great stuff there... "Lean Baby" (a jazz song I love his version), "Old McDonald" (yes really), a lot of the tracks are good for dancing. So look for Capitol stuff.

I think I've heard that version of "Old McDonald" but not in a long time. It's also one of my favorites.

Tina

Lawrence-
Or maybe some of us just don't like Sinatra.

AlekseyKosygin wrote:

falty411 wrote:i would say to save your money and buy something sinatra-free

Just trying to round out my collection...I like some Sinatra...please recomend me some "Sinatra Free" stuff...I'm all ears...

It's no secert that Sinatra admired Billie Holiday and tried to ape her style of singing. So I highly recomend Songs for Distingué Lovers. It is one of my all time favorite albums.

-Kevin

main_stem wrote:So I highly recomend Songs for Distingué Lovers. It is one of my all time favorite albums.

-Kevin

this is getting off track a little bit, but distingue is one of my all time favorite words - it means "Distinguished in appearance, manner, or bearing." It is in the lyrics to "Lush Life", one of the few vocal standards I know all the words to and can sing pretty well.

Lawrence wrote:Moreover, even though his style does not fit either the "Original Era Swing" paradigm or the new "Groove Swing" paradigm or the old "Neo Swing" paradigm of Lindy Hop dance music, I LIKE it that way. I enjoy the difference that a Sinatra song puts in the dance: more romantic and smooth, although not ridiculously schmaltzy like Sweet music, and still without being a twerpy "Mel Torme-like" romantic geek. I wouldn't want to dance to it, exclusively, but I definitely enjoy dancing to it.

We suffered for a while at one of our dances with a monthly band that did exclusively Sinatra covers; rarely did the tempo change; and the vocalist had a limited range so the keys were often similar. If you think Sinatra is bad, just think about how much worse it is with someone doing a bad imitation!

On the plus side (referring to Lawrence's comments about Sinatra being more romantic and smooth), I found the people having the most fun dancing were those who did the nightclub two step to these songs; seems to fit better than lindy hop.

Yakov wrote: "Old McDonald" (yes really)

Hehe, I think that's got a lot to do with why he ditched capitol and formed Reprise..

Buy one? Hell, Eff will just burn you one...

*ducks*
*runs*

Kalman

main_stem wrote: It's no secert that Sinatra admired Billie Holiday and tried to ape her style of singing. So I highly recomend Songs for Distingué Lovers. It is one of my all time favorite albums.

-Kevin

Great cd. It's also included in the compilation _All Of Me_.

mousethief wrote:Buy one? Hell, Eff will just burn you one...

*ducks*
*runs*

Kalman

That's soooo wrong.

Tina

CafeSavoy wrote:

main_stem wrote: It's no secert that Sinatra admired Billie Holiday and tried to ape her style of singing. So I highly recomend Songs for Distingué Lovers. It is one of my all time favorite albums.

-Kevin

Great cd. It's also included in the compilation _All Of Me_.

All the tracks are also on All or Nothing At All, if I'm not mistaken. That set rocks.

SpuzBal wrote:

CafeSavoy wrote:

main_stem wrote: It's no secert that Sinatra admired Billie Holiday and tried to ape her style of singing. So I highly recomend Songs for Distingué Lovers. It is one of my all time favorite albums.

-Kevin

Great cd. It's also included in the compilation _All Of Me_.

All the tracks are also on All or Nothing At All, if I'm not mistaken. That set rocks.

Ooops, that's the set i meant. Thanks.

Ron wrote:Lawrence-
Or maybe some of us just don't like Sinatra.

That's fine. But keep it in mind. Again, lots of stuff I used to consider undanceable (if not entirely "unholy" to the religion of Lindy Hop) are now my favorites for dancing because I changed my expectations and expanded upon my own rhythmic abilities when dancing.

i.e. you lowered your standards

*runs away cackling*

Frank's later stuff makes me think 'foxtrot' personally. I really do love his voice, but to be honest sometimes the way he plays with time really annoys me. Sometimes the melody is so beautiful that you should just sing it straight.

julius wrote:i.e. you lowered your standards

*runs away cackling*

Frank's later stuff makes me think 'foxtrot' personally. I really do love his voice, but to be honest sometimes the way he plays with time really annoys me. Sometimes the melody is so beautiful that you should just sing it straight.

I don't understand how some people can exclude a whole category a priori.
I tend to think in terms of where can i find the great songs, not in terms of
which categories of artists or genres will i exclude. What happened to the
old idea of panning for gold.

julius wrote: ...I really do love his voice, but to be honest sometimes the way he plays with time really annoys me. Sometimes the melody is so beautiful that you should just sing it straight.

I so agree with you, Julius. I know its part of the jazz vocal tradition to do that sometimes, but when its done all the time I just find it annoying.

I've mined Sinatra a little, and I play "Luck Be a Lady", the brassy version with Basie, I think, a fair amount. and "I've Got You Under My Skin". In fact, here's my review from my website of the Sinatra at the Sands CD:

Frank Sinatra with Count Basie Orchestra - Sinatra at the Sands (Reprise - 1998)
Reviewed: 26 April 2003. Ratings: ****, LLL See CD at Amazon.com »
First released in 1966, this captures Sinatra at his finest, live in Vegas, backed by one of the finest bands in the land. DJ Jesse Miner has recommended this CD, and I'm glad I finally gave in and bought it. I'm not a huge Sinatra fan, but damn, I find myself enjoying this despite myself. Sinatra is such an excellent performer, and combined with the band, they are electric in songs like "I've Got You Under My Skin" (130 BPM). Basie's band provides a lovely swinging feel and a great energy to this songs. There's a number of songs I could play for dancers that aren't on the above Sinatra Reprise best-of CD. Like "Where or When" (128 BPM). There's some banter that's forgettable, but listening to it, you almost feel like you are actually in Vegas listening to him.