Search - Frank Sinatra, Tommy Dorsey Orchestra :: The Essential Frank Sinatra with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra (2CD)

Phil L. from HURST, TX
Reviewed on 7/1/2011...

Would that this kind of recording were again the norm

A great "duet:"....Sinatra and T Dorsey

Robert H. Cusack | Centrral Coastal CA | 06/12/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I witnessed this "duet" in 1942 when I was a student at Indiana Univ. It was a late afternoon session in the auditorium and the Junior Prom dance in the evening. Superb performance which I'll never forget. "Without a Song" was so powerful in the auditoruim that Sinatra had to back off from the mike. I met him during the dance at stage-side; my date was the prion year's junior prom queen. Frank was gracious. After shaking hands with him I've decline to wash it ever since!!



Bob Cusack"

Origins Of A Legend.

Anthony Nasti | Staten Island, New York United States | 08/28/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"These recordings are a tremendous joy to have. Here is where you will hear Frank Sinatra, God's Gift To Music, perfecting his craft, learning his trademark style from the best teacher an aspiring singer could hope to have, Tommy Dorsey.



It is true that these recordings are nearly 70 years old, and that they lack the edge and energy of Frank's later recordings. They are reflective of a much more simpler, conservative time in music, so a great deal of patience is needed to sit through them and it is understandable if one becomes somewhat bored with the music.



However, once you've managed to conjure up that patience, you will be exposed to music history. Frank was still growing at this point. He had just left Harry James as he felt Tommy Dorsey will give him a bigger opportunity to stretch over into the mainstream. From Tommy, Frank learned everything he needed to know about his phrasing and breath control techniques. He studied Tommy's techniques with these on the trombone intently, and he transferred them into his own singing skills, and him and Tommy became a winning force. Frank and Tommy play off each other that at tiems it seems that Tommy is duetting with Frank rather than giving him instrumental backing.



The songs here are songs of a simpler times. Most of them would be deemed corny by today's standards (especially "Polka Dots And Moonbeams", which is still a great song), but they hold such great artistic and historical value that you can easily overlook their lack of meter.



Many of these songs ("Polka Dots And Moonbeams", "I'll Never Smile Again", "The One I Love Belongs To Somebody Else", "Oh! Look At Me Now", "How About You", "The Song Is You", "Street Of Dreams", "There Are Such Things") would be perfected during later recordings at Capitol and Reprise, but without these early blueprints, those latter day masterpieces would not have existed. Frank's voice had not developed into the rich, manly baritone it would become, but to hear his voice this vulnerable and pure is a dream.



The sound quality and packaging are absolutely excellent, and this cd is a must have for all music fans."