Curtis Stigers puts out an album about every other year, and each one is an absolute treat. He’s got the heart of a crooner, the voice of a carney, and the soul of a dreamer. Here, he revisits the sound and attitude that started it all, Frank Sinatra’s years of Billy May and Nelson Riddle arrangements. Even the album cover is reminiscent of the classic encounter in Las Vegas with Count Basie’s orchestra, of which this album celebrates the 50th anniversary of that event.
Here, the Danish Radio Big Band delivers bright reads of the original charts, yet Stigers’ unique sandied voice gives a fresh and frisky feel to pieces like the punchy “Come Fly With Me” and the finger snapping “Fly Me To The Moon.” The reeds glisten like wheat fields on “Summer Wind” as Stigers swaggers on “The Lady Is A Tramp” and “My Kind of Town.” He actually sounds more convincing with the lonely pianist on the last call at the saloon read of the title track. Sinatra with dirt under his nails.