Jazz and Sinatra at the Library

The Dripping Springs Community Library host a Jazz Concert last Thursday Aug. 22, which included a number of Sinatra standards sung by guest singer Tony Harris.

The concert set was put together by local musician Lonnie Atkinson who played guitar during the set. He was joined by Larry Eisenberg on bass, Jamie Hilboldt on keyboard, and Kevin Hall on drums.

“I was really a rocker, but thanks to my father’s records I discovered Sinatra.” Harris said. “First time I heard his records I was about 15 or 16 years of age, about 1962, 63. His music was not just about getting the girl, but also about how you felt when you lost the girl. Years later, I ran into Lonnie [Atkinson] about 15 years ago, and we started playing Western Swing at the Broken Spoke, and we tried a number of different things, and it turned out that this was something that was good for me. So we do a number of Sinatra shows up at Georgetown at the Palace Playhouse. We also do some of the Sinatra jazz stuff when we play the front room at the Broken Spoke, when we play the back its all country, but in the front we get to mix it all up.”

The performance was laced with humor throughout, beginning with Lonnie Atkinson starting the set with the themes from the Flintstones and The Jetson’s, in a jazzy riff, with his Fender Telecaster.

Later during the performance, Harris joked, “When Lonnie asked me to come here today and sing, I asked him what the dress code was, Lonnie said ‘What dress code?’”

But dress code or no, beginning with the first song, The Summer Wind, the audience was captivated by quality of the music and the lighthearted banter between the musicians during the set. One audience member quipped, “It’s like watching the Rat Pack.”