Album of the Month Club to Bring Frank Sinatra's COME FLY WITH ME to Joe's Pub, 11/26

JOE'S PUB at The Public Theater will present the latest installment of the "ALBUM OF THE MONTH CLUB" concert series on Tuesday, November 26 at 9:30 PM. In an evening honoring the Frank Sinatra album "Come Fly With Me" - or The International Sinatra - the show will feature the talents of Molly Pope, Lady Rizo, Rob Roth, Blind Boy Paxton, Christina Bianco, Colleen McHugh, Liam Forde, Tatiana Eve-Marie, Adrian Chavalier & the Avalon Jazz Band and Ago Il Mago. Music will be provided by Sammy Miller & The Congregation under the direction of Jon Weber. The show is hosted by Molly Pope and curated by Wall Street Journal jazz writer Will Friedwald and Michael Katsobashvili.

"ALBUM OF THE MONTH CLUB" is an ongoing series of shows celebrating the great pop and jazz albums, in which classic collections of songs will be explored and re-examined by a rotating cast of singers and players from a wide range of styles: jazz, pop, Broadway, cabaret, blues. Each show will take you through a classic album from start to finish, rendered in new interpretations by contemporary artists. These performances will be by turns affectionate and irreverent, respectful and gonzo - the idea is to compliment the classic recording, not to merely "cover" it.

Recorded in 1957, COME FLY WITH ME was a unique milestone in the career of Frank Sinatra. It was his first meeting with the great arranger Billy May, and the two of them would go on to enjoy many classic collaborations over the next two decades, culminating in the 1980 Trilogy. More importantly, COME FLY WITH ME marked the first time Sinatra did a theme album as opposed to a concept album - a "concept" album is one where the songs are all in a similar mood and tempo, but a "theme" album indicates that the mood might vary track to track, but the songs were all held together by a lyrical theme rather than an emotional mood.

Hence, COME FLY WITH ME marks practically the only example of a classic Sinatra album when he transitions from a beautiful ballad like "Moonlight in Vermont" or "London By Night" to a swinger like "Isle of Capri" or "The Road to Mandalay." Indeed, COME FLY WITH ME opens with one of the all-time classic Sinatra mantras: with the sound of Billy May's distinctive introduction, suggesting a late 1950s airliner taxi-ing down the runway and taking off. It could be said that the whole of the Rat Pack Era, indeed, all the "Mad Men" era, really begins with the opening 30 seconds or so of COME FLY WITH ME.

The album, released in January 1958, is virtually the occasion when Sinatra sang a lot of somewhat goofy, rather adorable songs about world travel - even then, these songs were considered rather "quaint." You can tell from the way Sinatra takes a sentimental old song, like "South of the Border" and "Isle of Capri," and makes it into a swinger, with an arch, somewhat satirical attitude, that he just wanted to have fun with it, that he was never taking this particular material too seriously.

It is in that spirit that COME FLY WITH ME will be re-interpreted as part of the "ALBUM OF THE MONTH CLUB" at Joe's Pub. This performance will be imbued with that same attitude, where the idea of having fun with each individual song will be first and foremost. The show will not only feature jazz singers and pop balladeers, but a wide range of comedy and variety performers, including singers, comedians, impressionists, performance artists, and even a singing werewolf. And because this album celebrates the glories of world travel, we have subtitled the show "The International Sinatra" and it will include a wide range of International Artists from all over the globe.

The debut show in September 2013 celebrated the 1962 Ray Charles album "Modern Sounds In Country and Western Music." Future shows in the "ALBUM OF THE MONTH CLUB" series at Joe's Pub will include Bob Dylan's Blonde on Blonde, Judy Garland's Live at Carnegie Hall, Nat King Cole's After Midnight, The Beatles' Revolver, Noel Coward Live at Las Vegas, Tom Waits' Small Change, and many others.

JOE'S PUB at The Public Theater, is located at 425 Lafayette Street (between East 4th and Astor Place) NYC, adjacent to The Public Theater. For tickets, which cost $20, please call (212) 967-7555 or visit joespub.com, or visit in person at The Public Theater Box Office from 1pm to 6pm, Joe's Pub from 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM (both located at 425 Lafayette St. For table reservations, call 212-539-8778.

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