Sam Furlonger: Get Out And Get Under The Moon
Widely acknowledged as the male vocalist of the 20th century, Frank Sinatra is still influencing younger performers some 28 years after his death, with this month alone offering not one, but two new releases directly influenced by Ms. S.
Get Out And Get Under The Moon is the debut album of Sam Furlonger, a self-confessed admirer of both Sinatra and The Great American Songbook. It is interesting that in an era where 14 tracks are common, Mr. Furlonger opts for only eight, with a running time of 31 minutes and I can’t help wondering if this is yet another homage to Sinatra, who offered, as his first two albums for Capitol, Songs For Young Lovers and Swing Easy, both 10” vinyl long-playing albums, each containing eight songs. According to the liner notes, Mr. Furlonger and arranger and pianist Fraser Urquhart put together a quintet modelled on the group that worked with Sinatra circa 1962, with which they performed, successfully, Sinatra material. For this debut album, however, Mr. Urquhart has broadened the base to include songs that were popular at the time Sinatra was active.
As a student of irony, I relish the fact that Mr. Furlonger, an honours graduate of the Nat King Cole School Of Diction – wrap yer troubles in dreams – has opted to pay tribute to a graduate of the Mabel Mercer School (Night andDay; both Ds being clearly enunciated). On the other hand, Cole’s sloppy diction mattered not a whit or a jot to his thousands of admirers, and I’m sure the same will obtain in the case of Mr Furlonger, who has a fetching way with a song, especially the one out-and-out ballad, She’s Funny That Way. He performs it as a ballad, compensating immediately in the very next track by a jaunty reading of This Is Always, a ballad that can’t sustain such an approach.
Cavils aside, this remains a fine album with the backing well up to snuff, especially Harry Sankey’s guitar on the Cole Porter gem I’m In Love Again, on which Mr. Furlonger throws in an extra, rarely performed chorus – an anonymous reviewer on BeBop Spoken Here, who really should shell out for a decent researcher, attributed this number to one Dave (who he?) Bartholomew, in his critique of this album, when it was, in fact, written by Porter for Greenwich Follies of 1924.
I am also personally indebted to Mr. Furlonger, who removes Kim Gannon’s Halfway Down The Street from the vaults of nostalgia, where it has languished lo, these many decades, reminding us dinosaurs how Sinatra used to sound when he was with Tommy Dorsey. As debut albums go this is a commendable effort. I wish it well, and hope it finds its audience.
Discography
Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams; The Right Kind Of Love; Get Out And Get Under The Moon; I’m In Love Again; Half Way Down The Street; Keeping Out Of Mischief Now; She’s Funny That Way; This Is Always (31.52)
Furlonger (v); Fraser Urquhart (p); Fraser Smith (ts, as); Darren McCarthy (b); Harry Sankey (g); Joe Dessauer (d). StudiOwz, Pembrokeshire, probably 2026.
Independent
Linda Purl: From My Heart
They do say that if you get the little things right the chances are you’ll replicate that on the big things. The details that came with this recording credit I’m All Smiles to Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart when in fact it’s is the work of Michael Leonard and Herbert Martin, written for their 1965 Broadway show The Yearling. Lorenz Hart died in 1943, some 22 years before I’m All Smiles was written. Ironically, on what is a seriously eclectic selection of material, there are two genuine Rodgers And Hart numbers, Bewitched (Bothered And Bewildered) and I Didn’t Know What Time It Was, rubbing shoulders with All I Do Is Dream Of You and Blossom Dearie’s I Like You, You’re Nice.
Ms. Purl has the kind of middle-of-the-road voice that I can take or leave, but I can’t fault her impeccable accompaniment, Tedd Firth, piano, Kevin Axt, bass, and David Rokeach, drums. The album appears to have been conceived on a something-for-everyone plan, for we also get a lesser-known number by Sting, If Ever I Lose My Faith In You, and, as a finale, Home On The Range, performed gently as a ballad. Whilst I wouldn’t necessarily want to return to it, I’m pleased to have heard it once.
Discography
I’m All Smiles; Destination Moon; Bewitched, Bothered And Bewildered; All I Do Is Dream Of You; You Are There; I Didn’t Know What Time It Was; When You Find The Right One; Something Happens To Me; Everything Must Change; I Like You, You’re Nice; Dedicated To You; If I Ever Lose My Faith In You; Home On The Range (48.52)
Purl (v); Tedd Firth (p); Kevin Axt (b); David Rokeach (d). Tritone Recording, Glendale, California, 2-5 March 2026.
Lexicon Classics LC 2606
