The upcoming Sinatra: Vegas new release is quite significant in that it offers a collection of performances previously unavailable anywhere in any form. I for one am axiously awaiting the release of this set, which may be the most important new Sinatra release of the past 10 years. It is a veritable treasure trove for the collector and will expand the list of Sinatra live recordings that has grown quite significantly over the past decade.

Back in the early 1990’s, there were just two Sinatra live performances that fans could buy. The first was the classic, Sinatra at The Sands, which needs no introduction and which will be soon found in alternate form on the upcoming Vegas release. The second was The Main Event, which was Sinatra performing live at Madison Square Garden in 1974. This recording, while welcome, certainly didn’t showcase Sinatra at his best.

And that was it. Despite having a reputation for extraordinary live performances, the sum total of available live Sinatra recordings was two!

Beginning in the early 1990s, this situation began to change, with such notable releases as Sinatra and Sextet, The Ultimate Rat Pack, The Summit in Concert, Seattle ‘57, Sinatra in Australia, and many more. Most of these that I’ve mentioned are quite good, some astonishingly so due to outstanding fidelity, repertoire performed, or both.

There are probably a few things most Sinatra fans would like to hear that will never be heard: Sinatra performing at his legendary Paramount engagement in the early 1940s springs to mind. But there are also some incredible gems that were most definitely recorded and exist in vaults somewhere, just waiting to be release. For example, would it be wonderful to hear Sinatra performing at The Cal Neva Lodge, the casino Sinatra owned in the 1960s? What about his legendary appearances at Atlantic City’s 500 Club? Or even his appearance at the 1965 Newport Jazz Festival, which by all accounts was pure dynamite.

We may or may not ever hear some of these gems (if, in fact, the do exist). I certainly hope we do. What would you like to hear?