Jazz and Crooning

Some of Frank's works were considered jazz, although some albums have more of a jazz "feel" than others. There's a jazz foundation to everything he does, particularly his ballads. Sinatra was influenced by Louis Armstrong,  Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, and others, but went beyond them in establishing his own rhythmic identity. Rhythm section players praise Sinatra for digging deep into the rhythmic groove in everything he does, ballads or uptempos. Sinatra was once categorized as a classical vocalist because of the fact he used Bel canto in the 1940's, but it should be obvious that rhythmically Sinatra owes far less to opera singers than to Louis Armstrong. Usually swing numbers are associated more with jazz than ballads, but Sinatra is more likely to linger behind the beat, in a "jazzy" fashion, on a ballad, for dramatic effect. In Sinatra's music rhythm and emotion are, in effect, the same thing. He also started to leave space, and in his unique way leaving out whole sections of lyrics, or perhaps punctuating them with just one word, and you know exactly what it means. That's why jazz musicians love him and other singers hate him: because he can leave out huge chunks of a song and, because he's got such great time, everything else is implied anyway. You as a listener fill in the gaps. No matter if you think Sinatra was a jazz singer or not he was heavily influenced by jazz music and it has played a role in shaping his musical style.

Crooning is a style that has its roots in the Bel Canto, but with the emphasis on subtle vocal nuances and phrasing found in jazz. This style of music, characterized by a relaxed and intimate posture by the performer, became possible with with the invention microphone, popular singers had to project to the rear seats of a theater, which made for a very loud vocal style. The microphone made possible the more personal style. Crooning is not so much a style of music as it is a technique in which to sing. This style of music was popular from the years between 1920-1950 and generally the artist was accompanied by and orchestra or big band.