One More For The Road, the twelfth album by Curtis Stigers, celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of Sinatra’s classic live recording, Sinatra At The Sands. The Danish Radio Big Band take the place of Count Basie’s swinging orchestra, to quite magnificent effect, and provide the perfect platform for Stigers, who sounds like he’s having the time of his life, and delivers the best album of his long career.
Stigers grew up with the 1970s singer songwriters, counting Elton John’s Goodbye Yellow Brick Road as his first album. His love of the great singer-songwriters can be seen on the well-chosen covers on his recent recordings. He only discovered Sinatra when he started college, and was blown away by Sings For Only The Lonely. It wasn’t just Sinatra’s voice that impressed him, but his ability as a storyteller. As a consequence, many of the songs on this album have been part of his own repertoire for many years, which allows him to put his own spin on them.
The singer has worked with the Danish Radio Big Band in the past, but this is their most ambitious project to date. Whilst eight of the ten tunes selected appeared on the 1966 Sinatra album, this is very much a tribute, rather than a carbon copy. The arrangements were developed by the Danish Radio Big Band, but are based on many of the original charts by Nelson Riddle and Billy May; they also add a few embellishments of their own. To their credit, they capture not only the swing of the Basie orchestra, but the power and passion too, and there’s a real buzz and vibrancy to their playing which is a delight to listen to.
Stigers responds to the band’s energy, and the palpable excitement in the audience, with a masterful performance, combining the spirit and playfulness of the original album with a hip, swinging delivery of his own. He is careful not to copy Sinatra’s own delivery, but admits there are moments where it’s hard to avoid. “ There are certain phrasings that he used that work so well with the arrangements,” he said, “that I couldn’t not use them.”
The track listing is hard to fault; all of the classics are here from the original album, like Come Fly With Me, Fly Me To The Moon and One For My Baby, and each one will bring a smile to your face, with subtle but effective changes from the originals, whether it’s a vocal inflection, a muted trumpet solo or the way Stigers responds to the crowd, who clearly love every moment. There’s also room for some of the lesser-known track from the Sands album, such as Don’t Worry ‘bout Me, by Rube Bloom, which is good to hear again. Stigers also chose a couple of other tunes associated with Sinatra that did not feature on the original, including Summer Wind and They Can’t Take That Away From Me.
“It’s the most fun I’ve ever had,” Stigers revealed, “and I think it shows on the record.” He’s right – this album as an absolute blast from start to finish, and is a great way to begin 2017.
