This One's from the Heart
It's a credit to James Darren that he can record an album that so clearly owes a great debt toFrank Sinatrayet still sounds fresh.  The former early-'60s teen idol is best known these days as Vic Fontaine, a virtual Rat Pack-type crooner who appears on the holodeck ofStar Trek: Deep Space Nine, and these swinging standards were all performed on that show. (He thus follows in the footsteps ofNext Generation's Brent Spiner, who recorded a Sinatra-esque album in 1991 entitledOl' Yellow Eyes Is Back.) Darren, whose voice is a closer match toTony Bennett's than to Sinatra's, is supported by an excellent orchestra, a cast of A-list arrangers includingAlan Broadbent,Sammy Nestico, andMarty Paich, and a top-to-bottom collection of great songs.DS9fans would do well to grab this right away, as would all fans of this timeless style of singing.--David Horiuchi