Frank Sinatra, Jr. - That Face (CD)

All Music Guide

Obviously, the Sinatra name carries with it the weight of 55 years' worth of legendary musicmaking. But Frank Sinatra, Jr., a singing veteran for close to half a century himself, has made his own friends in the recording industry, plenty of them ones who wouldn't care whether he had a famous father or not. That Face, his first session since his 1996 tribute to his father (As I Remember It), benefits from his many associates; Sinatra sings arrangements (some of them original) by Billy May, Nelson Riddle, and Don Costa, invites Steve Tyrell in for a duet, and includes in his band a role call of famous names: Bill Miller, Snooky Young, Bill Watrous, Buddy Childers, and many others. Educated in American song from an early age, Sinatra understands the canon like few others, and he chose a set of songs many from his live show that he understands completely. The voice isn't quite as deep as his father's (even when he was the same age), but it benefits from the many lessons taught to him; in... fact, at times the son appears to channel the father, giving listeners an exciting chance to hear what Francis Albert would have done with a pair of wry gems from the saloon songbook that appeared tailormade for him, Rupert Holmes' "The People That You Never Get to Love" and Alan and Marilyn Bergman's "The Trouble with Hello Is Goodbye." Only a few songs feature Sinatra in hard swing, such as the title track, his own song "Spice," or "Girl Talk" (his duet with Tyrell). Sinatra prefers, and does much better with, the torch songs, like the above or two songs associated with females "Cry Me a River" (Julie London) and "What a Diff'rence a Day Made" (Dinah Washington). Unlike the 1996 album that found him laying to rest his father, That Face is Frank Sinatra, Jr.'s own record, and it's one that all vocal fans not just fans of the senior Sinatra would do well to check out. - John Bush, All Music Guide Read more Less