Sinatra's off-nights more intriguing than practically anyone else?

November 4, 11:46 AMFrank Sinatra ExaminerRick Busciglio

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"For those who believed that every note Frank Sinatra ever sang already has been released, reissued and repackaged, brace yourselves: There's new material to come. The man recorded and performed so prolifically for nearly six decades that the vaults keep yielding more music."

That's the Chicago Tribune referring to "Sinatra: New York" (Reprise Records). This new box set has four CDs spanning 1955 to 1990, plus a DVD of a 1980 Carnegie Hall concert none of it previously issued. The recordings document live New York performances (rather than studio sessions) and vary as far as acoustical quality and musical values are concerned.

"Yet Sinatra's work so dominates our understanding of the 20th century American art song that even his most casual performances reward close listening. An off night from Sinatra, in other words, can be more intriguing than a fine show from practically anyone else."

Conventional wisdom holds that late in life Sinatra couldn't sing anymore and shouldn't have. Wrong.
In the autumn of his years, Frank Sinatra still brought profound insight to repertoire he had been singing for decades, as he proves in excerpts of concerts in Carnegie Hall in June 1984 and Radio City Music Hall in June 1990 (on the fourth CD). As a bonus, the "Carnegie Hall, 1980" DVD enables listeners to watch the master at work, his renditions of "When Your Lover Has Gone" and "This Is All I Ask" are as searing as anything he ever performed live.

And though listeners who haven't yet seriously begun collecting Sinatra should first acquire boxed sets devoted to his years on Columbia, Capitol and Reprise, "Sinatra: New York" can only deepen one's appreciation for his inextinguishable art." (Excerpt from Chicago Tribune)

"Sinatra: New York" retails for $79.99 ($34.99 digital).