By Jerry Pearce

With this week commemorating what would have been the 73rd birthday of the dearly departed Frank Sinatra, JR., we take a moment to remember a unique recording project he took on some eleven years ago. Covered previously in a biographical installment of “The Sinatra File,” the 2006 album “That Face!” would serve, literally, as the swan song of the younger Sinatra’s recording career, a spread of five studio albums and several guest vocal appearances over a course of more than forty years.

Laid down when Sinatra, JR. was sixty-two and captured over the course of a few days at the renowned Capitol Studios in Hollywood, “That Face!” is an enjoyable listening experience. Produced by Sinatra Enterprises associate Charles Pignone with an orchestra led by JR.-confidante Terry Woodson, the album captures a man who is still on the way to reaching his vocal peak while sounding several years younger. When considering the news that the singer wasn’t feeling up to par during the recording sessions, it makes experiencing the performances all the more remarkable.