Long ago in a time far away, The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra and Frank Sinatra made music history.
Way back before Elvis – in the 1930s and ’40s – Dorsey and Sinatra made America sing, dance, laugh and cry.
It was like old times Saturday in Savannah Center when Terry Myers led the current version of the Dorsey band, and vocalist Bryan Anthony sang Sinatra.
“Let’s go way back with Frank Sinatra and the Dorsey Orchestra to 1940,” Anthony told the crowd as he stepped in front of a stand-up microphone. “This was Frank’s first big hit and it went all the way to No. 1.”
Then, a kind of warm, nostalgic wave rolled over Savannah Center as Anthony started singing, “I’ll Never Smile Again.”
The song, from the last year before the start of World War II, made everything seem right again.
“I didn’t grow up with this music but my parents did and I think about them every time I hear it,” said Villager Ed Terry, a former New York City cop who attended the concert with his wife, Victoria.
“This is great music – I mean it’s Frank Sinatra,” he added. “It’s great to have the opportunity to hear it live once more.”
Victoria Terry agreed.
“I have so many memories of sitting with my parents and grandparents and listening to this music when I was a kid,” she said. “It was something the family shared, playing records or listening to the radio. It’s not like that today.”
Ed Terry has had enough of today’s music – especially rap.
“Can you imagine rapping to a Tommy Dorsey record? I can just see the album now – ‘Rapping with Tommy.’”
Savannah Center was a no-rap zone Saturday because Dorsey and Sinatra reflect another time and another place.
“But their music still matters,” Victoria said. “I’m looking around and I see a lot of aging bobbysoxers. I screamed at Elvis and they screamed at Sinatra.”
There were no screams Saturday, but plenty of loud cheers and fond memories. Dorsey used to play trombone, but Myers fronts the orchestra while playing clarinet. He leads an orchestra of 15 members, including four trumpets, three trombones and five saxophones. It also has a bass, piano and drums.
The sound is rich and authentically pure in a Tommy Dorsey style.
Myers and the orchestra opened the 90-minute show with one of Dorsey’s signature tunes, “Opus No. 1.”
“We’re a Florida-based band but we travel all over the world,” Myers said. “Now we’re going to play a Stephen Foster song. When we’re on the road, I tell people this is Florida’s state song – ‘Old Folks at Home’ — ‘The Swanee River.’” The orchestra played a jazzed-up version of the Foster song.
Bryan Anthony injected energy into the concert as he sang his first song, another Sinatra standard, “Come Fly With Me.” Then he really hit a high Sinatra note with a Cole Porter number arranged by Nelson Riddle, “I’ve Got You Under My Skin.”
Terry Myers showcased his talent during a clarinet solo on “Georgia On My Mind.” The orchestra had some fun, singing the chorus to “The Sunny Side of the Street.”
“I always liked saloon songs,” Myers said, introducing “You’re Nobody Till Somebody Loves You.”
Then Anthony hit a musical climax with a rousing vocal backed by a triumphant big band sound on “I Wanna Be Around.”
