Columnist Joe Delaney: Entertaining a slew of possibilities this weekend

BUSY, BUSY WEEKEND. ... Our personal first choice this weekend would be Michael Crawford, appearing in concert with a full symphony orchestra at 8 p.m. Saturday, MGM Grand Garden Arena. ... Liza Minnelli (who attended Frank Sinatra's funeral services this week, and postponed her opening date until today) is scheduled through Sunday at Bally's, performing at 8 p.m. with Andrew "Dice" Clay at 11 p.m., Friday and Saturday.

Reba McEntire is the attraction at 8 tonight in Buffalo Bill's Star of the Desert Arena. ... Jerry Vale, whose many Columbia albums are still active catalog items, does 8 p.m. shows, today and Saturday, in The Railhead at Boulder Station.

The Woody Herman Orchestra, under the direction of Frank Alberti, will give a dance concert in the Stardust Hotel Ballroom, 8 p.m. Saturday, admission is a modest $15. ... Upcoming there: A Benny Goodman Tribute (July 11); Harry James (Aug. 1); Tex Beneke (Sept. 5) and Ray Anthony (Nov. 21).

There's more

Community theater: Shakespeare at Summerlin, "A Midsummer Night's Dream," is at 7 p.m. in Hills Park through Sunday, and Actors Repertory Theatre's "The King And I" plays through May 31, Summerlin Library Theatre. ... Daniel Hamilton performs a concert of Native American flute music at 7:30 tonight in the Winchester Community Center.

Juice Newton performs two free shows, 7 & 9 p.m. Saturday (Palace Station). ... Leslie Gore is in Sunset Station's Outdoor Amphitheatre at 8 p.m. Saturday, a fund-raiser for NLV's Alpha Gamma Kidney Fund. ... Texas Station presents Charlie Daniels Band and the Marshall Tucker Band at 7:30 p.m. Sunday; prices are reasonable.

Sunday jazz: It's the Jazz Organ-ization, noon-3 p.m., (Santa Fe Pavilion) and Mondays belong to the Don Menza Big Band in the Riviera Lounge; great players and occasional top sit-ins.

Fontana No. 1

Master trombonist Carl Fontana, featured with the Marv Koral All-Stars, 7-11 p.m. Saturdays, in the Park Avenue Steak House, takes off at the end of May to play and be honored in Budapest, Hungary, then return home via Boulder, Colo., where he will be awarded a medal as "World's No. 1" by the International Trombone Congress.

More Sinatra

Thursday, we covered some personal Sinatra musical memories, hits of the 1930s, '40s and '50s. ... Ernie Freeman's arrangement gave Frank a surprise hit in "Strangers In The Night" with its "Scooby-Dooby-Doo," followed by an even more surprising hit, "Somethin' Stupid," a duet with daughter Nancy, a No. 1 hit in 1967.

The 1960s ended with a new signature song, Paul Anka's lyric for a French song, "My Way," with a sensitive reading of a Don Costa arrangement, recorded Dec. 30, 1968, a perfect match for the man and his music. ... The '60s also gave us an exceptional live concert album, "Sinatra At The Sands," with Quincy Jones conducting the Count Basie Orchestra.

Another Anka composition, "Let My Try Again," highlighted Sinatra' return to action at Caesars Palace in 1973. ... Gordon Jenkins arrangement on "Send In the Clowns" was our personal favorite that year.

Down to date

"New York, New York," which started out as Liza Minnelli's title song from one of our favorite films, became Sinatra's new signature song with a Sept. 19, 1979 arrangement by Don Costa, recorded with a Vincent Falcone Jr. Orchestra. ... Falcone conducted the Johnny Haig Orchestra for Tony Bennett's Caesars Palace date this past weekend.

In the 1980s, it was Sinatra's "Trilogy" album, covering the past, present, and future via a Gordon Jenkins original composition. ... This led to a number of reissues on various labels, setting up "Duets I & II" as platinum albums in the 1990s, making Sinatra the only recording artist to have No. 1 hits in seven consecutive decades.

Thanks to digital re-mastering techniques, Sinatra's musical legacy will be available for future generations as well. ... Thank you, Frank, for your music -- and for so much more.

In conclusion

We trust our reminiscences have resulted in some pleasant musical memories of your own. ... Meanwhile, there are a lot of things happening here this weekend. ... Get out and be part of it. ... See you next Thursday.

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