Sinatra Swings To A Bossa Nova Beat

By David Glisan

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 often credited with popularizing Bossa Nova music outside of Brazil. He worked with Sinatra on an album of samba tinged standards entitled Francis Albert Sinatra and Antonio Carlos Jobim. The work was a critical and commercial success, and Sinatra would hold Jobim in very high regard for the rest of his life"both as a musician and as a friend. After Jobim entered a semi-retirement in the 1970s and 1980s where he did little collaboration with other artists, Sinatra would often introduce his performances of Jobim songs live by remembering his Brazilian colleague in very fond terms or expressing the hope that the two men could work together in the future.

"Wave", written by Jobim and arranged by Eumir Deodato, is perhaps the finest of their collective work. It features some magnificent technical singing by Sinatra, including what are the lowest notes ever recorded by "The Chairman of the Board". For the rest of his life Sinatra enjoyed listening to 'Wave just to hear how good he sounds hitting the bass notes.

This song originally intended as the opening track of a second volume of Sinatra/Jobim collaborations, but it was never released as such. The story that has circulated over the years is that the Sinatra/Jobim album put on the back burner so that Reprise could release the concept album "Watertown" instead. As an commercial decision, it's tough to fathom the rationale if this is the case. "Watertown" sold fewer copies than any other Sinatra release on Reprise. Another story is that Sinatra himself nixed the release because he hated the cover art which featured the 'King of Swingers' wearing a windbreaker and standing in front of a Greyhound bus. Hard to blame him for disliking that image if this version of the story is true.

"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 definitive book on Sinatra's music "Sinatra: The Song Is You" described the singer's work with Jobim as having "flexibility and delicacy, as if they could be blown about by a soft Brazilian breeze". This sensual and sultry song, in particular, is among the finest vocal work of Sinatra's amazing career. - 18758

About the Author:

David Glisan is a writer specializing in MMA and boxing as well as a respected authority on music as diverse as heavy metal and 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.