Sinatra Still a Force to Reckon With

Why do they keep doing it? What is the fatal attraction of the Frank Sinatra style and repertoire that keeps drawing so many male singers into its engulfing flame?

It would be nice to think that some of the answers are provided by the performances themselves, by interpretations that start with Sinatra before moving into more personally expressive territory. But don’t count on it. Only one in a recent group of Sinatra-influenced releases manages to elude the stylistic hegemony of the Chairman of the Board.

The exception is Steve Tyrell, whose track record as a producer and writer for acts ranging from Elvis Presley and Linda Ronstadt to Rickie Lee Jones and LL Cool J is clearly what gives his readings both a more contemporary and personal quality. “A New Standard” (***, Atlantic) explores such Sinatra-familiar items as “I Can’t Give You Anything but Love,” but it reaches out to other tunes from the Great American Songbook as well.

And the real similarity with Sinatra traces not to Tyrell’s burry-sounding vocal style--which is closer to Jack Sheldon than Sinatra--but to the solidly musical, persistently swinging quality of his musical accompaniment, with beautifully crafted arrangements by Bob Mann. Buried in a number of tracks are some superb solos--especially “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore,” which features choruses from both Clark Terry and the late Harry “Sweets” Edison. Terry also solos on “I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm,” and Edison is showcased on “I’ve Got the World on a String” (once again playing, for the last time on records, his signature repeated-note phrase).

Surrounded by all this solid jazz talent, Tyrell takes precisely the right tack--actually, quite Sinatra-like--by avoiding macho displays and fitting in perfectly with the arrangements, telling stories that beautifully balance lyrics, music and mood.

Would that the same could be said for Bobby Caldwell and James Darren, whose new recordings--”James Darren: This One’s From the Heart” (**, Concord Jazz) and “Bobby Caldwell: Come Rain or Come Shine” (**, Sin-Drome)--seem determined to emulate Sinatra in every sense. And it’s interesting to compare their overblown versions of “I’ve Got the World on a String” with Tyrell’s well-balanced rendering.

Caldwell and Darren have attractive voices, and each clearly knows how to turn a musical phrase. But it’s hard to understand why--even in an effort to create a tribute--they would choose to sing repertoire arranged in a fashion that inevitably places them in a losing comparison with Sinatra. Nowhere is this more apparent than in “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” surely one of Sinatra’s most immediately identifiable classics. Amazingly, both Caldwell and Darren have chosen arrangements so close to the original Nelson Riddle chart that they might as well have used it.

Canadian Brian Evans makes it clear upfront that he intends to play the oddly anachronistic role of a “new crooner” on his “Brian Evans--Live at the Desert Inn” (* 1/2, RFC Records), which could easily have been produced three decades ago. Evans, who is said to hold the house attendance record for his 13-week run in the Starlight Lounge, tries hard to capture the Sinatra attitude on tunes such as “The Lady Is a Tramp” then has a go at Bobby Darin on “Mack the Knife” and Tony Bennett on “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.” But the attitude feels studied, and the vocal interpretations are, at best, mediocre, often plagued by shaky intonation. Evans may have been performing at a former Rat Pack hangout, but that’s the only connection with Sinatra.

Why do they do keep doing it? Who knows?