Frank Sinatra/Tommy Dorsey: Frank Sinatra; Tommy Dorsey.
Additional personnel: Connie Haines, Jo Stafford.
Recording information: 1940 - 1942.
Ensembles: The Pied Pipers ; Tommy Dorsey Orchestra.
This collection is an ideal introduction to "phase one" of Frank Sinatra's lengthy career--the "band singer," as vocalists with big bands were known during the Swing Era (1935-1946). The worldly, ring-a-ding-ding vocal icon would not evolve until the '50s--these '40s recordings of Tommy Dorsey's Orchestra feature Sinatra as a creamy-smooth, starry-eyed, mellow crooner, his vocal phrasing influenced by the sweet, melodious tones of Dorsey's trombone. Unlike those of Count Basie or Artie Shaw, Dorsey's band played a polished, understated style of swing, which was a perfect fit for Sinatra's blossoming style.