Interview: Get Ready to Laugh with Ben Jones's LET ME BE FRANK at 54 Below

Acclaimed singer Ben Jones is back at 54 Below on March 10th with LET ME BE FRANK, a show celebrating the wide range of music Frank Sinatra covered, including classic American Songbook hits by the likes of Cy Coleman, Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer and more. Jones is accompanied by legendary pianist, composer and music director Ron Abel. Jones, as funny a performer as he is a skilled singer, will confront “Frank truths about marriage, family and a life in the entertainment industry.” We spoke a bit about the inspiration behind this new show, which has already had a sold-out premiere at Birdland in December.

Can you give us a little taste of what audiences can expect at your upcoming show at 54 Below?

First of all, a Sinatra show is basically an excuse to sing anything. I've constrained myself only to the 1,400 or so songs that he sang throughout his career, but I think audiences will still find a good number of songs they recognize and love (wink). As for the show, it'll undoubtedly be my usual mix of songs and comedy. I like to tell jokes, and to weave my own stories like a thread through my one man shows. BroadwayWorld's own Bobby Patrick, in his 2023 review of my live album, wrote the byline "Shhh. Sing Ben... Just Sing." But I just can't help myself. So I'll certainly tell some hilarious stories about both Frank and about myself. And the charts that Ron Abel has come up with for this one... they're AMAZING. The comments we've gotten as we've toured this show around the US have been really fun. I think some Frank devotees are coming to the show, hoping to hear the Nelson Riddle arrangements, but we've gone pretty far afield of the Sinatra sound people know and recognize. And those folks always come up afterwards to remark on how pleasantly surprised they are. Ron and I constantly push each other to stretch our boundaries, and the music in this show really demonstrates that.

What draws you to the work of Frank Sinatra?

I don't want to ruin it, so I'll try to answer this without giving too much away. There's a joke deep in the show about why we chose to do this particular show. The show wasn't my idea. But what has emerged as I've gone through both Frank's catalogue and his life is a show that's deeply personal, and that creates the space for an audience to laugh, to cry and to be deeply introspective. There are amazing parallels between Frank's life and mine, at this stage in my life. My wife and I have been married 10 years, and we've got two kids; in the late 1940s, Frank and Nancy were celebrating 10 years, and they had two kids. Frank and I share some of the same afflictions, some of the same (complicated) views, and–luckily–some of the same taste in music. Oh, and we're playing some of the same rooms. This weekend, I'm in Palm Springs for two nights at Frank's old haunt, The Purple Room. In this show, we do as many of his hits as we do his B-sides. So for the true Frank fans, there are surprises in the set list that I keep hearing about everywhere we tour the show. And the stories... there are so many stories from Frank's life. He was huge. His life was huge. I only have about 75 minutes to share what I want to share, so it's not uncommon that I come off stage and someone in the audience shakes my hand with a palmed napkin, on which they've scribbled their favorite Frank story in the dark. It makes me so glad that what I'm doing elicits this "conversation" from audience members. I discussed the same thing in an interview with your predecessor, Stephen Mosher, in an interview last year: "I try to create a space where people can maybe have a conversation on the car ride home that they wouldn't otherwise."

How long has this show been in the works?

Ron Abel (the LEGENDARY Ron Abel) and I started working on this one in early 2023; we premiered it in San Francisco at Feinstein's at the Nikko just six months ago. Jim Caruso graciously brought it to New York for the first time in December, selling out the big room at Birdland. I was so floored, so humbled. And I felt terrible that we were turning away people at the door. So I knew we had to bring it back to town at some point. Jennifer Tepper was kind enough to book us for this one, and I'm thrilled we'll be able to reprise the show in my hometown. Since I started writing one man shows, I've done a new one every year. We're already working on the next one, even as I continue to edit and refine this one. I think we might try out pieces of the new show in Chicago in May, then bring it to New York sometime this summer. Part of the fun for me has been growing comfortable with telling the audience, "Hey, just so you know, this is maybe half-baked right now. Sometimes you get a polished song or set, sometimes we're trying something out for the first time." And I've found audiences love it just as much when we're trying something new–something that's maybe a little rough around the edges–as when they're hearing us do one of the charts or sets we've performed in town a bunch of times already.

If you could ask yourself a question about your show and answer it, what would it be?

I want to highlight the band for this particular show. Yuka Tadano has played every show I've done since I started writing these one-man shows. She's an incredibly skilled bassist, but moreover she's collaborative. She comes to rehearsals almost as if they're writing sessions, and she'll make suggestions or offer ideas and alternatives that–there's no way to overstate this–just make the show better. She's so fun to work with. And she laughs at my jokes on stage, which helps! [laughs] Sean Harkness is the worst-kept secret in New York. To say he's virtuosic seems almost like I'm being lazy in my description. When I share rehearsal recordings with the players we pick up on tour (I raise money on GoFundMe in order to be able to hire local professional musicians on the road), the guitarists always remark on that guy. And there were plenty of cat calls in the audience at Birdland directed at Sean in December, so I might have to ask him to wear something a bit more neutral this time around. Ray Marchica is new to me for this show, but he's Ron's favorite drummer in town (I hope Ron doesn't mind me saying this). He's played everything. He was even the drummer for the Rosie O'Donnell Show, which I watched growing up. It's a thrill to have these folks on stage with me. As usual, I'm the least famous person up there.

What's coming up next for you this year?

I'll–deep sigh–continue my weekly pattern of submissions, self-tapes and in-person auditions. [laughs] Musically, it's got to be more experimentation. We should do another interview when I'm ready to talk about the new one man show. Like I said, Ron and I are constantly trying to find some new sound to bring to audiences in the clubs we're playing. From a business perspective, I'll (of course) continue to book new markets around the US, but at a moderate pace. I've still got young kids at home, so I'm really trying to keep it under 20 weekends a year that I'm on the road. I feel like if I can organically add 3 to 5 new markets in the US each year, by the time my kids are teenagers (and don't want to have anything to do with me) I'll be pretty busy. Just a couple of weeks ago, we went to Austin for the first time and sold out two nights at an incredible club, Parker Jazz Club. In the next few months, I'm performing in Seattle, London, Oslo and Omaha for the first time. Next season, we'll definitely be in Tucson for the first time, and there are already a handful of cities where we're trying to sign new deals. It's been a thrilling ride, starting to sell shows with just my name (Ron's name helps in a lot of places, too). And I owe a huge thanks to BroadwayWorld for coverage and exposure since I started out. So thanks. I'll hope to see you at a show soon.

Tickets to LET ME BE FRANK at 54 Below are available here.

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