By Jerry Pearce

This past December 2nd, I was preparing myself for what I referred to as “Sinatra Weekend. It was a Friday, and that coming Sunday, I was to perform for the first time on stage as part of the Sinatra Birthday Bash, an annual tribute concert event held at the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, New Jersey. Before the show was to be held, a session was scheduled at Carroll’s Music Studio in Midtown Manhattan, a rehearsal where the cast of the production would review their performances with the entire orchestra. When one of my charts was called, I strode to the nearby microphone and took a survey of the entire contingent, a strings and brass ensemble of thirty pieces.

Looking at all of these professionals, I wondered if Sinatra had experienced a similar feeling when reviewing the musical splendor assembled before him. Indeed, December 2nd was a landmark date for Sinatra, as on that day fifty-five years before I stepped up to rehearse a tribute to his music, the singer himself was climbing on stage at Sydney Stadium in Australia, beginning the first of a two-concert date that would mark his second tour to the far flung locale.