Ol’ Blue Eyes remembered at the Count Basie Theatre
On Dec. 10, The Sinatra Birthday Bash returns to Red Bank.
On Friday, Dec. 10, The Count Basie Theatre and Jazz Arts Project will bring the 4th Annual Sinatra Birthday Bash back to Red Bank at 8pm. The director of the Jazz Arts Project, Joe Muccioli, promises the evening will be a musical celebration of the life and career of New Jersey's own, Frank Sinatra.
What Muccioli does not promise is a series of pale Sinatra imitators. "This is not a wig and hat show, it's a tribute."
Muccioli explains that the process of putting together the Sinatra Birthday Bash begins early in the year. "We send out the notices in April and May [to the potential singers], and the next few months are spent boiling down the list, practicing the singing, doing the coaching and the planning. The last three weeks have really been crunch-time though."
The event was first organized in 2007 after a series of shows with Joe Piscopo, for whom Muccioli works as musical director and conductor. "The thought was, what if we get a bunch of guys together to really do up a bunch of Sinatra's best tunes?" Four years later, the program is still going strong.
Muccioli points out a special connection between Frank Sinatra and the one-time Carlton Theater. Sinatra at the Sands (1966), his first commercially-released live album, was conducted and arranged by Quincy Jones, but more consequentially featured Count Basie and his orchestra providing accompaniment. They also collaborated on the albums Sinatra-Basie (1963) and It Might As Well Be Swing (1964). The significance of having this particular presentation at what is now the Count Basie Theatre is not lost on Muccioli.
The line-up of songs includes favorites such as "Come Fly with Me," but also will feature lesser-known offerings like "The World We Knew."
"We're going to present several favorites and some songs in that style and genre he would have influenced," Muccioli assures. "We'll have some gems."
The audience runs the gamut of different ages, which is something Muccioli appreciates. "It's a real cross-section. A lot of the families [of the singers] bring their kids [and] the entire family. So it is a diverse make-up of all ages. But what gets me is that, at the back of the theater, there will be a certain segment of a certain age, and they'll all start singing along."
Muccioli is also the artistic director of the Jazz Arts Academy, a cooperative effort with the Count Basie Theatre and the Jazz Arts Project to bring young, talented musicians into the theater's studio space. There, they have the opportunity to study and perform with professional jazz musicians as their coaches.
On Sunday 12, from 6-to-8 PM, the students of the 2010 semester will be holding a free performance at Zebu Forno, 20 Broad St.
The 4th Annual Sinatra Birthday Bash is presented by the Jazz Arts Project & Count Basie Theatre. Ticket prices are: $45, $39.50, $25 (Discounts available for groups of 12 people or more. Call the box office at 732-842-9000 for details).
For information about the 2011 spring term of The Jazz Arts Academy, contact the offices of the Count Basie Theatre's Performing Arts Academy, at 732-224-8778 ext. 125, or eduadmin@countbasietheatre.org.
