Written by Louis Prima and popularized by native Chicagoan Benny Goodman in the 1930s, “Sing, Sing, Sing” is one of the best-known standards of the big band era.
Usually, “Sing, Sing, Sing” is played in a show-off arrangement to spotlight how fast the group can play together. On 1995’s Night & Day: Big Band, Chicago takes a different approach, slowing it to a more moderate tempo anyone can dance (or sing!) to.
Chicago trumpeter Lee Loughnane handled the arrangements here, layering the vocals and horns and augmenting the drums with Luis Conte sitting in on Latin percussion. Then, about one minute in, the Gipsy Kings arrive, adding flamenco guitars and an invitation in Spanish for everyone to sing along.
It’s an invitation nobody can resist, and “Sing, Sing, Sing” reminds us in these strange days that music is indeed a universal language.
