.....a man by the name of Frank Sinatra, or simply Sinatra as he became known early in his career, almost ( if not always) credited songwriters and their collaborating lyricists before he began to perform their work? He did this with an obvious tone of admiration and really wanted to confer origin, honor and respect on them. At the same time his underlying message was that HE was honored to be performing their work on that occasion. His comments were always brief, but always about the contributions of others, which enabled him to express his own art and interpretive emotion.
.....Sinatra consistently performed an additional stage ritual? If they existed, Sinatra was sure to preface his performance of a song with an introduction written by the songwriter. The introduction, or intro, as it is called in popular music, establishes melodic, harmonic and rhythmic continuity with the main body of the song. When Sinatra did that lyrical intro, he immediately captured the mood and the context for his performance. With his unique combination of tone, style, phrasing and focused emotion, even in speaking, the audience received a preview and a heightened anticipation for the music and lyrics that were to follow. He had a talent to place the audience in the palm of his hand, from the very beginning. As the last bars of music and voice resonated to their conclusion, the audience was universally fulfilled with the magical WOW that was a live performance by Sinatra .
.....Sinatra chose the name of the independent record company he formed, after he left Capitol Records? We can be sure that Sinatra analyzed many possible corporate names in the course of arriving at this critical branding decision. He knew he must come up with something unique and memorable. He certainly planned to continue the superb quality of his past performances, but at the same time he needed the new name to speak to a continuous and growing body of his work, and he had to project that image for the other artists he expected to join the new label. Sinatra chose REPRISE, the feminine past participle of the French 'reprendre,' which means 'taken up again.' A second definition is, 'repetition or further performance of something.' In one word he spoke of honoring to take up again or repeat the best of his past, while he also pledged to take up further, even greater and more ambitious performances for himself and the diversity of artists who would join his new record label.
Personally, I never stop wondering about or turning my thoughts to Frank Sinatra., but that will have to be another story. We just celebrated the 100th anniversary of his birth on December 12, 2015. I am convinced that Sinatra's legacy will continue endlessly, as a huge milestone within our musical heritage. Anyone beside me ready for Sinatra 101 in 2016? Chime in.
.....Sinatra consistently performed an additional stage ritual? If they existed, Sinatra was sure to preface his performance of a song with an introduction written by the songwriter. The introduction, or intro, as it is called in popular music, establishes melodic, harmonic and rhythmic continuity with the main body of the song. When Sinatra did that lyrical intro, he immediately captured the mood and the context for his performance. With his unique combination of tone, style, phrasing and focused emotion, even in speaking, the audience received a preview and a heightened anticipation for the music and lyrics that were to follow. He had a talent to place the audience in the palm of his hand, from the very beginning. As the last bars of music and voice resonated to their conclusion, the audience was universally fulfilled with the magical WOW that was a live performance by Sinatra .
.....Sinatra chose the name of the independent record company he formed, after he left Capitol Records? We can be sure that Sinatra analyzed many possible corporate names in the course of arriving at this critical branding decision. He knew he must come up with something unique and memorable. He certainly planned to continue the superb quality of his past performances, but at the same time he needed the new name to speak to a continuous and growing body of his work, and he had to project that image for the other artists he expected to join the new label. Sinatra chose REPRISE, the feminine past participle of the French 'reprendre,' which means 'taken up again.' A second definition is, 'repetition or further performance of something.' In one word he spoke of honoring to take up again or repeat the best of his past, while he also pledged to take up further, even greater and more ambitious performances for himself and the diversity of artists who would join his new record label.
Personally, I never stop wondering about or turning my thoughts to Frank Sinatra., but that will have to be another story. We just celebrated the 100th anniversary of his birth on December 12, 2015. I am convinced that Sinatra's legacy will continue endlessly, as a huge milestone within our musical heritage. Anyone beside me ready for Sinatra 101 in 2016? Chime in.