skip's blog

vid: frank sinatra and louis armstrong

In the post-Bing Crosby universe, nobody could beat Sinatra for sheer art. Nobody ever gave Frank the respect as a pure jazz singer that Bing got, and -- okay, Bing really did invent the post-Armstrong notion of what a jazz singer is -- except musicians. Frank Sinatra's self-assurance gave him an incredible flexibility, and his ability to stand his musical ground next to anyone, anytime, anywhere is up there with Johnny Cash's.

I was thinking about that and wondering, if as Johnny had, Sinatra had ever dueted with Louis Armstrong, who was not only in some ways my country's greatest artist, but also one of the most magnanimous duet partners. Viola! A 1957 clip from The Edsel Show, and it's beaut. No lipsynching. Just a really great performance, and a chance to do something truly spectacular: to watch Louis Armstrong.

Labels: louis armstrong frank sinatra

posted by skip heller @ 1:18 AM