At the Sands with Count Basie and Frank SinatraThe year was 1966 Frank Sinatra was at the height of his career. There he stood on stage in the Copa Room of the Sands Hotel and Casino in front of Count Basie and his Orchestra recording what is considered the best album of his career. The album "Sinatra at the Sands" would be his first live recorded album to be released and the album would hit gold in sales. Sinatra was in his environment, a cozy salon-style venue with an enthusiastic Las Vegas crowd. The album was recorded by Reprise and the label's engineer was Lowell Frank and produced by Sonny Burke. Reprise had previously recorded two other albums: "Sinatra-Basie" and "It Might As Well Be Swing" with Sinatra and Count Basie, but it was their performance at the Sands Hotel that would further both artists' careers beyond what each of them was. able to do it alone. Sinatra wasn't just a singer, he was also an actor, a television and radio personality and, on occasion, a producer, director and host. (Pond, n.d.) “Sinatra has won three Oscars, three Golden Globes, including the Cecil B. DeMille Award, ten personal Grammys (and a total of 20 for his albums), an Emmy, a Peabody, and the Kennedy Center Honors Award in 1983. A generous charitable donor, he was awarded the prestigious Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. (Pond, n.d.) Sinatra has been named by some as the best entertainer of the twentieth century. As a person, Sinatra was known as a philanthropist, during his lifetime he would donate over a billion dollars to charities around the world. He also contributed to the civil rights of African Americans through his work with Count Basie and appearing in the race-denouncing film "From Here to Eternity" ...... middle of paper ...... usen and Sammy Cahn. The song has a definite swing rhythm and the saxophone and trumpets imitate Sinatra's phrases. The performance at the Sands is vocal jazz but the music itself is a combination of swing and pop. Even though it's not improvisation, the artists take liberties by sneaking in embellishments here and there. When you think of Frank Sinatra you think of the songs from his performance at the Sands. The Basie Rhythm machine establishes a stable swing rhythm that allows Sinatra to sing freely around the music creating a one-of-a-kind performance. Much of the credit for the show's success goes to Count Basie's arranger and conductor, Quincy Jones. Jones created a groove that blended Sinatra's strong voice, use of phrasing and his loose embellishments so well with Basie's orchestration that the band, Sinatra and the audience fed off each other..