Celebrating the 100th anniversary of Frank Sinatra’s birth, Tom Burlinson and his 16-piece Big Band perform the 1966 album 'Sinatra At The Sands'.
A fan of Sinatra since he was a toddler, Tom Burlinson would often say to his mother “let's hear the man in the hat – I want to hear the man in the hat!” The album was ‘A Swingin’ Affair!’ and Burlinson’s lifelong obsession had begun. “There was something about Sinatra's music that grabbed me, and got into me at a young age.”
A former student of NIDA, he first caught Australia’s attention in 1982 when he performed the lead role in ‘The Man From Snowy River’. Appearing on Ray Martin’s 'The Midday Show' in 1990, he shared his love of Sinatra with Australia, singing ‘The Man With The Hat’ – a song about Frank Sinatra that Burlinson co-wrote. A few years later Burlinson was chosen by Frank Sinatra’s daughter, Tina Sinatra, to sing the voice of the young Frank Sinatra in a mini-series she produced about his life. Continuing his love affair, Burlinson produced ‘Frank – A Life In Song’ which he performed from 1998-2003.
“We thought, how can we do something that is a bit different, a bit special and we came up with idea of recreating this album of Sinatra at the peak of his performing skills in the 1960s with all these wonderful songs and with the Big Band arrangements.”
Released in 1966, 'Sinatra At The Sands' is a live album by Frank Sinatra, backed by Count Basie and his orchestra, conducted and arranged by Quincy Jones. Burlinson calls the album an “inspiration”. When asked if he would throw in Sinatra’s other hits that do not feature on the record he replies, “while all the songs on the album are in the show, that only really takes 55 minutes to preform, so that is not enough for a whole evening of entertainment. So what we do is we take an interval and do a bonus set of additional material. Songs that might have been included in ‘Sinatra At The Sands’, but weren't. And others that came along later in Sinatra's career such as ‘My Way’ and ‘New York, New York’.”
Tom Burlinson is not an impersonator; he sings in the same style as Sinatra, paying homage to him. When asked what keeps him going back to Frank Sinatra, he says: “I think Sinatra's identification with the content of his songs is something that continues to inspire me. I have to have my own connection with the songs. Otherwise it would be just empty imitation. So when I am singing ‘The Shadow Of Your Smile’, I have to have my own emotional connection with it. Those sorts of challenges, not only trying to recreate and pay homage to Sinatra but also to do justice to all those elements that I described, is something that continues to challenge me and makes me want to do it.“I think the songs are really timeless; they were written by some of the great composes and lyricists of 20th Century pop music. I just love singing them because they have intelligent lyrics and good melody lines, plus the arrangement – and our arrangements are based on the original ones – so the arrangements are very full and interesting, and a lot of them swing like you wouldn't believe.”
When Tom Burlinson tours he always brings his band leader and lead trumpet player Ralph Pyl: “he is really my right hand man musically speaking.” The other constant member of his band is his drummer. The rest of the Big Band is made of local musicians of the area that have played with Burlinson in previous performances: “so I know that they are good readers, they like the style of music, and they are good players. So while they don't play with me all the time, when I come to Queensland, they are the guys that we book.
“I am really looking forward to be on stage at the concert hall at QPAC” Tom Burlinson says, “it is a wonderful space. And being in there with a Big Band – a 16-piece Big Band, recreating this marvellous album from the mid-1960s – which is really about celebrating the 100th anniversary of Sinatra's birth this year.”
Tom Burlinson performs 'Sinatra At The Sands' at Queensland Performing Arts Centre, 12 June.
