Carol Sloane: The Songs Sinatra Sang

Carol Sloane is a wonderful singer, who has managed only sporadically to garner the attention her talent deserves. The tradition would hold that her travails, the dues paid, have added to her art. This set supports that argument. It follows the singer’s similarly-titled tribute to Carmen McRae-and if this be a formula, it’s a powerful tonic indeed. The ingredients: Sloane’s vocals; classic material to interpret; very strong, atmospheric charts, courtesy here of Mike Abene, Bill Charlap, Frank Wess, and Scott Robinson; a broad enough instrumental palette to give the arrangers their head-here a nonet; and solid soloists-Wess on tenor and flute and Steve Turre on trombone are particularly moving. And with so many of the ingredients having aged so well, the result is ready for immediate consumption. Of note: wonderfully balanced readings of “At Long Last Love” and “You Go to My Head.” – Bill Bennett

Originally Published January 1, 1997