You won't find Sinatra mentioned in many books on jazz. Indeed, for over the past 50 years, whether or not he was a “jazz” singer has been the subject of many a heated debate usually sparked by self-opinionated blow-hards, who fail to see the bigger picture. These are a few relevant facts: Sinatra recorded with both the Count (three times) and the Duke, while Miles Davis confessed to this writer that in the early days he based his own phrasing and sense of timing from constantly listening to Sinatra's seamless performances on the radio. In fact, Miles' unfilled ambition was that he never recorded a full-blown session with Ol' Blues Eyes. Stan Getz too, also cited Sinatra as a direct inspiration. And there are many others. Sinatra can never be accused of being ivey-jivey in his approach, but what he did exhibit was that not only could he out-swing most of his contemporaries but also possessed more of a genuine jazz sense than many of those touted as being the real deal.

Having quit Capitol at the end of the 1950s to form his own highly successful label (Reprise), everything about Ring-a-ding-ding – from its Madison Avenue styled cover portrait and Johnny Mandel arrangements bode well for the 45-year old Sinatra re-positioning himself as the ultra hip finger-clicking leader of the Rat Pack. Here, it's packaged with his retrospective Dorsey tribute ‘I Remember Tommy.’

The studio sessions where Sinatra fronted the Basie band, wisely concentrated on what both parties did best. The result was a wonderfully relaxed and humorous collaboration that delivered on all levels thanks to the involvement of Neal Hefti and Quincy Jones.

The Concert Sinatra wasn't so much an exercise in adding to his credibility, just that he was seeking a deviation from his more familiar swinging safaris. Sinatra had previously recorded similar material with large orchestras, but on this occasion the results were very mixed and not at all convincing. The best moments take the form of ‘I Have Dreamed’ and a superb rendition of the lengthy ‘Soliloquy’ from Carousel.