Frank Sinatra: In The Wee Small Hours

Blue Note expanding their Tone Poet series beyond jazz to include Capitol vocal classics is either brilliant or blasphemous depending on who you ask. Having spent time with this 70th anniversary pressing of Sinatra's In The Wee Small Hours, I'm firmly in the brilliant camp.

This is one of those records that's nearly impossible to find in decent condition on the original Capitol pressing. Every "near mint" Scranton mono copy I've encountered over the years has been beat to hell, with surface wear that obscures Nelson Riddle's arrangements and robs Sinatra's phrasing of its intimacy. Joe Harley solving that problem by bringing Sinatra into the Tone Poet fold is a legitimate service to collectors.

The Technical Foundation
Kevin Gray mastered this from the original analog master tapes at Cohearent Audio, and RTI pressed it on 180 gram vinyl. The Stoughton tip-on gatefold includes session photography from William Claxton and Ken Veeder, plus liner notes by Rita Kirwan. This is the full Tone Poet treatment, no corners cut.

Our copy arrived dead flat with perfect centering and virtually spotless surfaces. The pressing quality matches what RTI has recently delivered on the standard Tone Poet jazz releases, which means it's reference grade. The mono presentation is exactly right for this material. Capitol recorded this in mono in 1955, and any stereo version you encounter is either a rechanneled fake or a later remix that doesn't represent what Sinatra and Riddle created.

Where This Pressing Excels
As noted by The Tracking Angle, and we agree, the transparency, tonal balance, and dynamic range all come up sounding better than previous remasterings. Sinatra's voice has that rounded dimensionality that the old Capitol pressings captured when they were fresh. The muted horns on "Deep in a Dream" have proper weight. The brushed drums maintain texture without turning to mush. The string arrangements breathe with the phrasing instead of sitting as wallpaper behind the vocals.

This is a quiet, introspective album that demands clean surfaces to work properly. Surface noise during the sustained notes or the spaces between phrases destroys the mood Riddle created. Gray's mastering preserves the full frequency range without artificial brightening or bass boost. What you hear is what Capitol captured in 1955, minus seven decades of accumulated wear. And, it is not too hot, as has been the case with a few of KPG's jazz masters.

The bottom end has slightly more definition than vintage pressings, which helps the upright bass maintain presence without overwhelming the arrangement. Sinatra's voice sits exactly where it should in the mix, close enough to feel intimate but not artificially spotlit. This is master class vocal recording being presented at its best.

The Expanded Context
In The Wee Small Hours was one of the first concept albums, with Sinatra conceiving it as a unified artistic statement rather than a collection of singles. He recorded this while dealing with his breakup from Ava Gardner, and that melancholy permeates every track. Understanding that context matters when you're deciding whether to spend hard earned money on a reissue of a 70 year old album.

This isn't ring-a-ding Sinatra swinging with the Count Basie Orchestra. This is torch song Sinatra working through heartbreak with Nelson Riddle providing the perfect musical backdrop. If that's not your preferred Sinatra mode, this pressing won't change your mind. But if you understand why this album matters in his catalog, hearing it this clean is revelatory.

The Honest Assessment
One review noted this remastering is superior to the Mobile Fidelity version by a significant margin, Tracking Angle and I'd agree with that assessment. The Tone Poet pressing delivers exactly what the series promises: the best possible presentation of the source material using all analog mastering and quality pressing standards.

The idea of Blue Note charging Tone Poet prices for a Capitol catalog title initially seems questionable. But when you factor in Kevin Gray's mastering work, RTI's pressing quality, and Stoughton's packaging, the price reflects actual production costs rather than artificial premium positioning. This reissue can certainly run with any Analog Production or MOFI release. Additionally, when you compare this to what collectors pay for clean original Capitol pressings when they can actually find them, and the economics make sense.

The Verdict
This is essential Sinatra presented in the best form it's ever been available. The mastering honors the source material. The pressing quality is flawless. The packaging meets audiophile standards without excessive theatrics (e.g., MOFI One-Step boxes). If you care about classic American vocal music and you want a reference quality pressing, this belongs in your collection.

* Recommended for: Sinatra collectors, vocal jazz enthusiasts, anyone who wants to hear why Nelson Riddle's arrangements are considered definitive, collectors seeking the best available version of a landmark album.
* Skip if: You prefer stereo pressings (this is mono only)
* Skip if: You prefer swing era Sinatra
* Skip if: Premium pricing for a single LP is out of your budget.

Here's the bottom line. This Sinatra pressing proves that Blue Note can present standard Capital catalog releases in a way that make them every bit worth the Tone Poet price tag. Kevin Gray and RTI delivered reference quality sound from 70 year old master tapes. If they continue mining the Capitol vault with this level of care, look out! We will all be reliving the music of our parents and grandparents at a fidelity level that they only dreamed about. 💰

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