Simply Sinatra

In recent years, I think the St. Louis Symphony has been making a real effort to branch out from its classical music roots in order to attract new patrons to their fine venue.  For this event at least, it worked.

T and I went to see Simply Sinatra.  It was exactly what you would have expected, and that was exactly what I wanted.  Vegas singer Steve Lippia came in and performed a revue of - you guessed it - Sinatra's work.

Here's the thing about me: I'm not much for jazz.  I don't really like it, because it makes my brain hurt.  But Sinatra wasn't jazz, he was a vocalist.  Did he have a whole lot of music backing him up sometimes?  Sure.  But he had a melody, and he could carry a tune.  That's the kind of "jazz" that I like.

Lippia, while not 'Ol Blue Eyes himself, did a pretty good job of it. We heard classics like "Come Fly With Me" and "Luck Be a Lady," and some lesser-known pieces too.  And of course, an encore of "New York, New York."  He interspersed his songs with some of the history of Sinatra as a musician, and the packed house - myself included - had a great time.

Aside: T and I were commenting on the demographics of the symphony musicians during the breaks, and specifically noticed one older African-American woman who probably started playing the violin before she was even allowed to go see a show someplace like Powell Hall.  That same day, this article (albeit with a focus on gender rather than race) appeared in the local paper.  Still, interesting.