Kurt Elling Swings Sinatra

The year was 1962.
In April, Frank Sinatra embarked on a two-month World Tour for Children, performing in 30 shows in 12 countries, with the Bill Miller Sextet. His June 7, 1962 concert in Paris was recorded but not released until 1994 as Sinatra & Sextet: Live in Paris. Some consider it one of the best recordings of his career.

The tour was exhausting but personally satisfying, and when Sinatra returned home in late June, he’d raised more than a million dollars for children’s charities worldwide. He was the tour’s sole sponsor, underwriting the expenses himself, for all the musicians and technical crew.

Fifty years later, Kurt Elling Swings Sinatra celebrates this album of Sinatra in peak form, as only Kurt can do, with richly told stories of a fascinating moment in time.

Kurt is joined by his own sextet, featuring special guests Joel Frahm on tenor sax and Brandon Lee on trumpet, with Clark Sommers, bass, Lewis Nash, drums, and his long-time musical director and collaborator, Laurence Hobgood on piano.

Kurt Elling Swings Sinatra comes to the East Coast at the end of April, with performances in New York, Vineland, NJ, and Philadelphia, and in mid-May in Pittsburgh.