Joe Lovano
Celebrating Sinatra
Blue Note / 1996
1. I’ll Never Smile Again (Lowe)
2. Chicago (Fisher)
3. I’m a Fool to Want You (Herron/Sinatra/Wolf)
4. Imagination (Burke/VanHeusen)
5. I’ve Got the World on a String (Arlen/Koehler)
6. All the Way (Cahn/VanHeusen)
7. South of the Border (Carr/Kennedy)
8. In Other Words (Howard)
9. I’ve Got You Under My Skin (Porter)
10. This Love of Mine (Parker/Sanicola/Sinatra)
11. Someone to Watch over Me (Gershwin/Gershwin)
12. One for My Baby (Arlen/Mercer)
13. The Song Is You (Hammerstein/Kern)
Joe Lovano – Tenor Saxophone
Manny Albam – Orchestrations
Ted Nash – Tenor Sax and Clarinet
Dick Oatts – Tenor Sax, Flute, Flageolet
John Clark – French Horn
Judi Silvano – Vocal
Billy Drewes – Bass Clarinet and Soprano Sax
Kenny Werner – Piano
George Mraz – Bass
Al Foster – Drums
Fifteen piece ensemble
Produced by Joe Lovano
Recorded June 2-3, 1996
This recording actually grew out of my collaboration with Gunther, on Rush Hour, especially Angel Eyes, which Gunther arranged for a string ensemble. Sinatra had such a distinctive version of the tune that I decided to do this recording and draw from his amazing repetoire.
The collaboration with Manny was a dream because he, along with Gunther, can express his beautiful ideas within any tune you choose to explore. His knowledge of these songs and their recorded history allowed him to be himself in actually creating these orchestrations.
So what this music is, in essence, is an extension of Rush Hour, with songs from the great American songbook. Like Rush Hour, Manny did orchestrations for 2/3 of the music, and I filled out the other third with small group pieces that featured Kenny, George, and Al. And then we broke down into smaller groups, like on Chicago, it’s just Al and I.