“SINATRA: NEW YORK” (Warner, 2009)
By Mahnuel Muñoz
After the commercial, critical and artistic success of the “Sinatra: Vegas” box set, Warner once again opted for a saga, this time the one starring Frank in the “City That Never Sleeps“, which he considered the home of his body, his soul and his art since the day he carried his dreams of fame and fortune and paid four dollars for a ticket for the ferry that linked New Jersey with New York.
FRANK SINATRA RADIO
The legend of Sinatra materialized in the streets of New York, between the Paramount Theater and the nightclubs, in the immense recesses of the recording studios, before the microphones of radio stations and in front of the winter gaze of the cameras. television; Sinatra was, is and will be New York and vice versa, and that is why the chronicle dedicated to this relationship is even more essential than the one dedicated to Las Vegas.
Throughout four CDs and a DVD we take a journey of five decades and almost eighty songs, a road map in which none of the usual stops are missing and that takes us through pleasant places little traveled, like a last performance with Tommy Dorsey in 1955 or a mini concert with the pianist Skitch Henderson at the United Nations headquarters in 1963. Two concerts follow from his triumphant return in 1974 and a fourth album with two half-recitals from 1984 and 1990, a strange decision. In my opinion, the best jewel in the box is the DVD with the Carnegie Hall concert of June 25, 1980, a memorable recital, among the best of its winter stage.
I would have preferred that instead of including two concerts from 1974, one from 1977 or 1978 had been included (there are extraordinary ones, and if you want we can talk about them), to offer more breadth. Likewise, there are better concerts from the 80s and 90s than those chosen.
But the exquisite presentation of the box and the quality of the sound make it a superb product, an instant classic.
