17 September 2024

Live at the Sands! at the Bal Blomet

Frederik Steenbrink and his Big Band recreate the legendary Live at the Sands! “How did all these people get in my room?”

With these words, Frank Sinatra steps onto the stage of the Copa Room at the Sands Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas in the winter of 1966.

Behind him, Count Basie’s Orchestra is revving up with a hard-swinging, foot-tapping intro that seamlessly morphs into a turbo-charged version of “Come Fly With Me”. Powered by Norman Keenan’s walking bassline, the song’s irresistible, kinetic groove – over which Sinatra’s voice glides effortlessly – feels like it’s propelled by jet fuel.

“The Voice” at the height of his career, Basie’s orchestra at the top of its game, served by the greatest arrangers of the day, under the direction of Quincy Jones. The program includes Sinatra classics “Come Fly with Me”, “I’ve Got You Under My Skin”, “Fly Me to the Moon”, “Angel Eyes”, and “Where or When”.

The double vinyl released by Warner Bros. Records becomes one of the greatest live albums of all time.

Superlatives fail to describe the album that rocked my childhood. And when Guillaume Cornut, director of the Bal Blomet in Paris, asked me one evening in the small dressing room in the basement of the venue, if there was something I’d dreamed of doing, I answered a bit shyly: “Live at the Sands!”. “Dreams are made to come true!” he said, and pulled out his diary. And so, my heart began to swing gently, and then I got a little scared…

We found the original arrangements, I got down to work, and on September 21st we’ll be playing the exact same set list and orchestrations from “Live At The Sands”.

Our big band, conducted by Philippe Maniez, and I will play this historic score as faithfully as possible.

In the right tempo! Let’s fly, let’s fly away!

Philippe Maniez, drums & musical direction • Maxime Sanchez, piano • Cyril Drapé, double basse • Vladimir Médail, guitar • Julien Ecrepont, Malo Mazurié & Thomas Mestres, trumpet • Pascal Mabit, Pierre Bernier, Corentin Giniaux & Balthazar Naturel, saxophone • Lucas Spiler, Balthazar Bodin & Didier Havet, trombone

Saturday 21 Septembre: Live at the Sands! at the Bal Blomet

#LiveAtTheSands #FrankSinatra #CountBasie #QuincyJones #LasVegas #BigBand #FlyMeToTheMoon #ComeFlyWithMe #AngelEyes

Photo & Design S. Kerrad KB Studios