Preview
When You're Smiling
Tim Tamashiro
Saturday, Feb. 22. Dinner 6:30 p.m., show 7:30 p.m.
Morinville Community Cultural Centre
9502 100 Ave.
Tickets: $52.50 to $63.00 Call 1-888-655-9090 or at ticketpro.ca
Former CBC jazz host and silky voiced crooner Tim Tamashiro brings one of his favourite projects to Morinville Community Cultural Centre.
When You’re Smiling, playing Saturday, Feb. 22, pays tribute to three legendary personalities that were a focal point of 1960s Las Vegas – Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr.
Dubbed the Rat Pack by media, the gang of friends also consisted of Peter Lawford, Joey Bishop and numerous other celebrities including Angie Dickenson and Shirley MacLaine. Within their own group, they preferred a different moniker “The Summit.”
Performing alone they enchanted audiences. Playing a Vegas show as a trio, Frank, Dean and Sammy morphed into sparkling, snapping live wires.
For two years Tamashiro has toured When You’re Smiling across Western Canada. Prior to that the Calgary resident had created a Canadian Jazz Series with Tommy Banks as his accompanist.
The two Alberta musicians were slated to work on various projects, however Banks fell seriously ill.
“He suggested I do something else. But what do you do to replace Tommy Banks?” Tamashiro asked. “I mulled it over for about a month and then I decided to combine my world of radio and storytelling with my singing.”
While researching The Summit, he opted to focus on the three key members with songs from their catalogues. And Tamashiro’s storytelling also looks at the singers’ warts as well as their highlights.
“Every good story has conflicts. Back in the 1950s Frank Sinatra couldn’t get a gig if his life depended on it. He started at 15 in the 1930s and was very popular and successful. But people tired of his music. In this business there are ebbs and flows. He left his family to chase Ava Gardner and was banished to Las Vegas singing in lounges for the price of a cocktail,” Tamashiro noted.
“And Sammy couldn’t go in the front door of a casino because of the colour of his skin. Dean was making movies with Jerry Lewis, but he didn’t enjoy being around him. Jerry was a loose cannon. He could be very spiteful and difficult.”
Tamashiro is firm in stating that the trio’s story is magical, a transformative tale about three singers who chose not to compete against each other. Instead they worked to become lifelong friends.
“They became a family. When they were together in each other’s living room, they had a ton a fun. They would show up at each other’s shows and get up on stage.”
The Morinville concert is performed in chronological order starting with Frank’s birth in 1915 in Hoboken, N.J. It follows a timeline to when the Jersey singer first meets Sammy, then Dean.
For Tamashiro, When You’re Smiling is a celebration of all friendships.
“We all have legendary friendships and this is an opportunity to embrace friendships. This is a fun show and the music you hear is familiar. Don’t be afraid. Bring some friends and let’s enjoy each other's company.”
