Years With Frank Sinatra
In 1975 Frank Sinatra heard Charlie play and asked him to play lead trumpet for his band. Charlie went on to play for Sinatra from 1975 to 1983. He not only played in Sinatra’s big band but also in his smaller tour band consisting of drums, bass, piano, sax and trumpet. This core group traveled with Sinatra all over the world on European, Middle Eastern, North African and South American tours. During this time in his career, Charlie played for presidential inaugurations, the Queen of the United Kingdom and many performances at Carnegie Hall.
Sinatra respected Charlie’s talent enormously and featured him on solo performances. Not only did Charlie play for royalty, presidents and dignitaries but also played and sometimes recorded for entertainers such as Ava Gardner, Ingrid Bergman, Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin, Wayne Newton, Andy Williams, Milton Berle, Ella Fitzgerald, Debbie Reynolds, Robert Goulet, Red Skelton, Jerry Lewis, Don Rickles, John Denver, Vic Damone, Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme just to name a few.
Around 1984 as Frank Sinatra began to retire from touring, Charlie decided he wanted to record his own album featuring songs out of the Sinatra song book that featured his trumpet. He asked Sinatra for permission to record his songs, to which Sinatra replied ‘I’ll do better than that. I’ll direct the orchestra.’ The album was titled What’s New and featured music arranged by Sinatra’s own great arrangers Billy May, Nelson Riddle and Don Costa. Even though the album was not a commercial success it was widely acclaimed by critics and jazz lovers.
Read more about this topic: Charles Turner (musician)
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