Frank Sinatra
Nothing But the Best
(Reprise)

In his 83 years on earth, the mighty Francis Albert Sinatra had been up and down and over and out…but through it all, he was never licked. Ten years after the death of the guy who put Hoboken, New Jersey, on the map, he finally can be “licked”—thanks to the US Postal Service. Okay, so the new Sinatra stamp issued last month is of the self-adhesive variety, but you get he picture. Following one of the few down periods of his career arc—which was turned around in the mid-1950s thanks to screen roles like his Academy Award-winning performance in From Here to Eternity and a stream of wildly popular albums on Capitol—Sinatra was one of the entertainment business’s most powerful figures: Powerful enough to start his own artist-friendly record label. In 1960, Reprise Records was born and it not only changed the tenor of Sinatra’s musical output but stood for decades as an imprint that gave artists freedom and room to grow. Sinatra’s Reprise years have been collected and compiled many times, and the latest installment is Nothing But the Best, with a release planned in part to take advantage of the buzz from the issuance of the Old Blue Eyes stamp. Curated by daughter Nancy—who has taken on the gatekeepership of her father’s legacy for the 21st century—there’s the expected classics, like the unmatched, Jobim-accompanied “The Girl From Ipanema,” the chilling and autumnal “It Was a Very Good Year,” and the Sammy Cahn/Jimmy Van Heusen Sinatra standard “Come Fly With Me.” Nancy, however, also picks some surprises, including the downbeat tavern blues of “Drinking Again” and and unissued version of the incomparable “Body and Soul.” The collection makes a great entry point for those not yet bewitched by the rich voice and undeniable swing of Sinatra, while those who already know and love his work will find plenty of their old favorites and maybe a few new ones.

—donny kutzbach