![sinatra+jobim[1]](http://s3.amazonaws.com/darianbjohnson/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/sinatrajobim1.jpg)
In 2001, my not-quite-my-girlfriend-not-yet-my-wife let me borrow disc three of Frank Sinatra’s Reprise Collection. The disc, covering recordings from 1966-69, included songs from Sinatra’s sessions with Brazilian bossa nova great Antônio Carlos Jobim.
I was already a Jobim fan, yet somehow I had overlooked these recordings. After learning of these sessions, I scoured Napster (back before RIAA started cracking down) and downloaded all of the Sinatra/Jobim recordings. Of those tracks, the Cole Porter-penned “I Concentrate On You” and “Baubles, Bangles And Beads” (written by George Forrest and Robert Wright) are my favorites from the American Songbook (Full disclosure: “Wave” is my favorite recording from the sessions, however, that won’t count in this list since it isn’t part of the GAS). 1
Usually my daughters and I “dance” (if you want to call it that) to music from our Sirius music channels before they go to bed. We normally stick to the classic R&B and hip hop stations; however, a few days ago, I decided to check out the classic jazz station. The station was playing Ella Fitzgerald’s cover of Duke Ellington’s “Sophisticated Lady”. “Great,” I thought as I turned the volume up. “My kids are going to love this!”