Sinatra Swings To A Bossa Nova Beat
One of the frequently heard criticisms of Frank Sinatras work is that he was essentially a one trick pony. He is often accused of not being a technically adept vocalist, and simply reworking a formula over and over again. While Sinatra certainly knew what worked for him, and what kind of songs and arrangements he liked this assertion is patently unfair and displays a profound ignorance of the entire body of his work. If you dig deeper in the Sinatra oeuvre, youll find some amazing examples of vocal prowess. Perhaps his best work in this regard came from his collaboration with legendary Brazilian guitarist Antonio Carlos Jobim.
Jobim is considered the founding father of Bossa Nova, and certainly deserves a bulk of the credit for popularizing the genre in North America. His collaboration with Sinatra on a samba tinged album Francis Albert Sinatra and Antonio Carlos Jobim was a critical and commerical success. Sinatra had the highest respect for Jobim as an artist and liked him as a friend. He would try to work out the logistics for the two to record together at several points in his career, but it never came to pass.
"Wave", written by Jobim and arranged by Eumir Deodato, is arguably the best of all of the Sinatra/Jobim collaborations. It features some great singing by Sinatra, including perhaps the lowest notes ever recorded by "The Voice". Years later, during his periods of 'retirement' it is said that Sinatra would listen to "Wave" just to hear how good he sounds hitting the bass notes.
This song was to have been a featured track on a second collection of Sinatra/Jobim collaborations, but for some inexplicable reason it was never released as such. The story that has circulated over the years is that the Sinatra/Jobim album was all set to be released, and for some reason it was put on the back burner so that Reprise could release the concept album "Watertown" instead. As an artistic decision, it's tough to fathom the rationale if this is the case. "Watertown" sold fewer copies than any other Sinatra release on Reprise, and to call it an "acquired taste" is being charitable. Another story is that Sinatra himself nixed the release because he didn't like the cover art. The braintrust that came up with the idea of photographing the Chairman of the Board wearing a windbreaker and standing in front of a Greyhound bus could have been responsible for depriving the world of a second sublime collection of Sinatra with a bossa nova twist.
"Wave", along with the majority of the songs intended for the "Sinatra/Jobim" album finally surfaced on "Sinatra and Company" in 1970. The "b" side is some of Sinatra's ill-fated attempts to cover popular songs of the day ("Close To You", It's Not Easy Being Green", "Leaving On A Jet Plane"). These are recordings that even the most devoted Sinatra-philes collect for the sake of completing a collection only, and a stark contrast to the masterful work with Jobim on the album's "A" side. "Wave" also appeared on the Reprise box set and of course of the "Complete Reprise Recordings" suitcase collection.
Will Friedwald, in his book on Sinatra's music "Sinatra: The Song Is You" described the songs from the Sinatra/Jobim sessions as having "flexibility and delicacy, as if they could be blown about by a soft Brazilian breeze". They remain among the most listenable and romantic work of Sinatra's epic career, as well as representing perhaps his finest vocal effort. - 18762
Jobim is considered the founding father of Bossa Nova, and certainly deserves a bulk of the credit for popularizing the genre in North America. His collaboration with Sinatra on a samba tinged album Francis Albert Sinatra and Antonio Carlos Jobim was a critical and commerical success. Sinatra had the highest respect for Jobim as an artist and liked him as a friend. He would try to work out the logistics for the two to record together at several points in his career, but it never came to pass.
"Wave", written by Jobim and arranged by Eumir Deodato, is arguably the best of all of the Sinatra/Jobim collaborations. It features some great singing by Sinatra, including perhaps the lowest notes ever recorded by "The Voice". Years later, during his periods of 'retirement' it is said that Sinatra would listen to "Wave" just to hear how good he sounds hitting the bass notes.
This song was to have been a featured track on a second collection of Sinatra/Jobim collaborations, but for some inexplicable reason it was never released as such. The story that has circulated over the years is that the Sinatra/Jobim album was all set to be released, and for some reason it was put on the back burner so that Reprise could release the concept album "Watertown" instead. As an artistic decision, it's tough to fathom the rationale if this is the case. "Watertown" sold fewer copies than any other Sinatra release on Reprise, and to call it an "acquired taste" is being charitable. Another story is that Sinatra himself nixed the release because he didn't like the cover art. The braintrust that came up with the idea of photographing the Chairman of the Board wearing a windbreaker and standing in front of a Greyhound bus could have been responsible for depriving the world of a second sublime collection of Sinatra with a bossa nova twist.
"Wave", along with the majority of the songs intended for the "Sinatra/Jobim" album finally surfaced on "Sinatra and Company" in 1970. The "b" side is some of Sinatra's ill-fated attempts to cover popular songs of the day ("Close To You", It's Not Easy Being Green", "Leaving On A Jet Plane"). These are recordings that even the most devoted Sinatra-philes collect for the sake of completing a collection only, and a stark contrast to the masterful work with Jobim on the album's "A" side. "Wave" also appeared on the Reprise box set and of course of the "Complete Reprise Recordings" suitcase collection.
Will Friedwald, in his book on Sinatra's music "Sinatra: The Song Is You" described the songs from the Sinatra/Jobim sessions as having "flexibility and delicacy, as if they could be blown about by a soft Brazilian breeze". They remain among the most listenable and romantic work of Sinatra's epic career, as well as representing perhaps his finest vocal effort. - 18762
About the Author:
David Glisan is a journalist covering MMA and boxing as well as a noted authority on music ranging from heavy metal to jazz. He contributes to many MMA news websites and provides UFC news for mainstream sports broadcast and print media. He serves as the music and entertainment editor for The Savage Science, a website covering fight sports and heavy metal music.
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