Search - Frank Sinatra: Sinatra at the Sands (With Count Basie & the Orchestra) on DVD Audio

Sinatra at his best!

Nancy Moore | Dallas, TX | 09/22/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This album contains some of Frank Sinatra's best music. His voice is at its peak and the Count Basie Orchestra is right with him. You MUST have this album if you are a Sinatra-phile -- your collection will not be complete without it."

Great Live Album

R. Pandolfo | Lehigh Valley, PA. | 12/02/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The 5.1 Dvd Audio (which also has a 24 bit stereo mix) can be played 3 ways, DVD Audio 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1, or 24 bit advanced resolution stereo. The sound is the best of any Sinatra recording either live or studio. The performance itself is arguably the best live set of Sinatra available, although I guess you could make a case for The Main Event. The latest 5 disc set, Sinatra New York, which contains 4 cds of live performances is not as good as this because it has concerts which were recorded later in his career when he was not as his best. This is Sinatra when he was still in peak form, and you get Count Basie too. A must have for a Sinatra fan whether you get the CD or the DVD Audio."

Outstanding Sinatra live, stunning DVD 5.1 sound!

G. Demos | Chicago, IL | 07/29/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This classic collaboration between Sinatra and Count Basie in Las Vegas is a definitive portrait of two consummate artist in an exciting "live" environment. It captures the full gamut of the "swinging" Frank of the classic "Fly Me To the Moon" and "My Kind of Town" as well as the "poignant" Sinatra of "Angel Eyes" and "September of My Years." Basie and his orchestra are tight, swinging and dynamic, a joy to listen to. Ok, some of the short patter may be a bit dated and insensitive, but the overall performance is one for the ages, with Sinatra being in excellent voice. My biggest regret is that I wasn't there. Oh, and the fact that this DVD is out of print and going for ripoff prices on the used market. The recording engineers outdid themselves on this one, so if you can grab it at a decent price, go for it, you won't regret it! I use it as a showcase for my audio system."

Frank In Surround: It Was A Very Good Mix

D.C. Hanoy | Athens, Georgia | 10/27/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This new DVD-Audio title captures the incomparable Frank Sinatra live at the legendary Copa Room at The Sands Hotel in Las Vegas, circa 1966. The performance highlights one of the 20th century's greatest performers literally at the peak of his popularity and powered by Count Basie's orchestra under the direction and arrangement of a young Quincy Jones. Armed with crooner classics, saloon songs and hits from that time in history, Sinatra thrills the audience with his deadly combination of stellar vocals, exciting orchestration and juiced-up one-liners.

This DVD-Audio disc will play in every DVD player, but is best in a DVD-Audio player being played back over a six-speaker surround sound system. Elliot Mazer, the mixing engineer on the DVD-Audio project, spent tremendous effort to make the recording sound fantastic by 2004 standards. His labors included going back to the original four-track master to create the 5.1 surround sound mix. The music and ambience of the recording feels real. In my system, you can barely hear anything other than the occasional clink of a couple of cubes in a drink glass. Musically, you are not going to hear bombastic horns coming from the rear channels, but what you will hear is a smooth, beautiful recording of a fantastic performance.

Sinatra's set is very well organized. He manages the tempo of the songs he plays in ways that we rarely see live or even hear on a record these days. The result is that Sinatra ends up with the audience eating out of his hand. He rolls through his set with spontaneity as well as pre-written one-liners - both of which gets laugh and applause. Some of the performance highlights include "Fly Me To The Moon," where the Basie orchestra swings something fierce with blasts of resolute horns and deep, walking bass lines. When Sinatra is singing, the band offers up just the right level of rich musical layering. As the tune progresses, Jones allows the band to build the intensity. At the very end of the track, Sinatra concludes the song with an abrupt "I... love....... YOU!" and the band segues into a full-force outro called "One O'clock Jump" that is outright happening.

I tend to listen to my music at pretty high levels, but I found this DVD-Audio to specifically benefit from a little extra horsepower for your beloved 5.1 speakers. On tunes like "Luck Be A Lady Tonight," the entire sound field opens up and beams with style. Sinatra sounds velvety smooth yet dynamic. The band rips behind the Chairman of the Board with fantastic details that even an audiophile could get off on, but make no mistake - this record is no audiophile recording. It is way too cool for that classification. After the second verse, the Basie orchestra hits some cymbals that decay beautifully in ways that you can only appreciate with the higher resolution of DVD-Audio.

Sinatra plays the ballads with touch and feeling, including the saloon song "One For My Baby (and One for the Road)," as well as the "The September of My Years." While listening to the entire disc, these tracks sounded impressive, though the more upbeat tracks like "Get Me To The Church On Time" were more fun. Sinatra's repertoire at this point in his career was pretty deep and he covers some very well-known songs like "Come Fly With Me," "I've Got a Crush On You," " I've Got You Under My Skin," "It Was a Very Good Year" and "Angel Eyes."

There are times when this record simply beams with musical and audio excitement. It took me a few times through and some level adjustments (especially turning up the rear speakers) to make the recording do what I wanted it to do but when I got it right, it sounded wonderful: smooth, open, rich and with strong bass. Not bad for a four-track recording from 1966. The performance is both historically important and fully entertaining. This DVD-Audio disc is the kind of record that you can really sink your teeth - or should I say your ears - into. It takes a number of spins to achieve full appreciation of this album, but when you have, you will be very glad you made the investment. -- Jerry Del Colliano, 9/2003


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