Wednesday, September 15, 2004
Frank Sinatra The Man and His Music + Ella + Jobim (ft.Ella Fitzgerald and Antonio Carlos Jobim)
What an amazing special (I recently taped it off of PBS, but it's available on DVD). Want to travel back in time? Check this special out. What most struck me was the simplicity: just a singer or two, singing songs on stage for the audience. No effects, no tv screen behind them, no fancy camera work, no playing guitars. Just the simplicity of the joy of singing, something we can all experience together without spending a penny. The joy in his expression, it makes him seem so young. (He was 51 or so, not that that's old.)
There's nothing like this on tv now, it's sad to say. Though scrupulously rehearsed (and featuring an orchestra conducted by, and with arrangements by, Nelson Riddle, that Easy Listening master), the performances have a freshness and intimacy so lacking on tv. Check out Frank smoking a cigarette between verses while singing with Jobim! Or telling corny jokes. He looks so happy, he's high. He's absolutely blissed out. Singing with Ella, he bounces around and dances like a ballerina. When she takes a solo, he sits off to the side on the floor, looking up as if in awe of a hero. It's shocking. When's the last time you saw a rocker or rapper looking happy? This is music for the pleasure of music. Frank sings standards, name-checking "composers," but he also sings modern rock songs. He claims to approve of the new music the kids are listening to, and he seems to feel every right to take a stab at it. Yet he indulges in overt nostalgia, trading bits of old songs with Ella. What must these two have thought about popular music in 1967? Could anyone even have suggested that they were too old? Did kids give them a chance? They probably shouldn't be singing songs like "Up, Up and Away," but it gives the special a touch of campiness that makes it that much more enjoyable for me.
Aside from the killer duets with Ella near the end (is it true they never recorded together? what a tragedy!), the biggest revelation for me was "Change Partners," a beautiful little number I adored.
I can't wait to watch this again.
