Just in case the title
One More for the Road didn't suggest
Sinatra,
Curtis Stigers underscores his debt to the Chairman of the Board by patterning the artwork for this 2017 collaboration with
the Danish Radio Big Band after 1966's Sinatra at The Sands. In fact,
One More for the Road is something of a salute to that 1966 record, containing eight songs from that double album and adhering to the snazzy swing of late-period
Frank.
Stigers even channels that sensibility into "Summer Wind," a gentle breeze of a single, and that's one of the distinguishing factors of
One More for the Road. Another distinguishing factor is the cheerful blare of
the Dutch Radio Big Band, who are big and brassy without overwhelming the singer. For his part,
Stigers doesn't mimic
Sinatra, appropriating just a bit of swagger -- and, sometimes, the arrangements -- but plays with his phrasing and alternates between crisp enunciation and elongated notes. This is enough to make
One More for the Road something a bit different than a straight-up tribute to Ol' Blue Eyes because it shows how
Stigers can hold his presence on-stage while sharing the spotlight with his idol. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine