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About Elvis Sinatra George Leonard’s Elvis Sinatra show is unique. When he tours, George appears live, but the band is on videotape. This developed out of necessity. Based in Providence, RI, the world-class musicians who make up the Elvis Sinatra band didn't want to travel. So George converted his house to a sound stage, shot and edited the music, and put it on laserdisc so he can take Elvis Sinatra with him wherever he goes. He’s been doing this for four years, now, winning new fans whenever he plays. While this digital multimedia show has earned Elvis Sinatra accolades, the music is so involving it more than stands on its own - as you are about to find out. As one observer put it, “George writes songs you think you’ve heard before.” Guaranteed, you’re going to wake up tomorrow morning humming one of these tunes. The music is infectious. One tune or another will stick with you: “Superhero,” “Naughty Angels,” “Charlene,” “Pisces”Š the list of Elvis Sinatra infections is long. (In fact, we haven’t seen his like as a tunesmith since, probably, Burt Bacharach.) Elvis Sinatra lyrics are equally haunting. George has a rare sardonic wit, and writes about relationships with a kind ofŠ off-the-wall wisdom. Check out the sharp insight of “I Love Myself When I’m with You,” or the warped logic of “Handsome Guys,” or the classic torch song “Whoever Said You Were Gone.” What’s most surprising, when you think about it, is that none of this music has been on the market until now: no CDs, no videos, no sheet music, no nothin’. There's a simple reason for this: like the other members of Elvis Sinatra, George Leonard does it for the music, not the money. He’s got a lucrative day job as proprietor of Mr USA One-Hour Dry Cleaners in Pawtucket. (Next time you're driving through Rhode Island on I-95, check it out. You can see the huge sign from the highway.) This leaves him free to make the music he wants to make the way he wants to make it. Elvis Sinatra is jazz for the twenty-first century. Enjoy these first fruits of a lifetime of music! - James Monaco |