Summit: In Concert

Debut release on the Sinatra Family's Artanis label (th rough DCC), a stunning stereo live recording featuring Frank Sinatra alongside his singing Rat Pack buddies Dean Marti n and Sammy Davis Jr. performing at the Villa Venice in Chicago in November 1962. Digitally remastered from the origina l tapes and pressed on a 24 karat gold disc, it features 20 tracks clocking in at an amazing 79 minutes. Each copy is individually numbered. Comes packaged in a standard jewel case within a colorful die-cut slipcase cover with the CD booklet hidden inside.

Drunken, tacky, and undoubtedly a piece of history, The Summit: In Concert captures a 1962 Chicago supper-club show by the three biggest names in the Rat Pack. The apparently unedited tape clocks in at more than 78 minutes, with plenty of the trio's banter preserved--for better or worse. (Sinatra: "Shut up, Sam, and sit in the back of the bus!" Davis: "Jewish people don't sit in the back of the bus!" Sinatra: "Jewish people own the bus!") There's some fine singing, of course; though Sinatra seems to be going through the motions during most of his solo miniset, his "When Your Lover Has Gone" is a highlight, as is Davis's "Out of this World." More an intriguing document than an entertaining repeat listen--thanks in part to the anarchic interruptions of many of the second half's songs--Summit is for those who already own the guys' truly worthy recordings. --Rickey Wright