Sinatra immortalized in a Delmar church
BETHLEHEM — I hadn’t seen this much excitement for Frank Sinatra in one place since Ol’ Blue Eyes opened Albany’s new Knickerbocker Arena on Jan. 30, 1990 and white stretch limos lined up along South Pearl Street.
This was the Delmar Reformed Church on Monday afternoon and 150 mostly grayhaired retirees waited excitedly for the final two-hour class of a six-session program titled “A Swingin’ Affair: The Music of Frank Sinatra.” Another 60 watched the talk on Zoom.
Some seated in the long rows of chairs may have been old enough to recall the so-called “bobby-soxers” from the 1940s — teenage girls who wore short, white socks and swooned over “The Voice.” In a 1945 article, a Guardian correspondent called it “one of those remarkable phenomena of mass hysteria which occur from time to time on this side of the Atlantic.”
It was a more subdued, academic mood that enveloped the church auditorium, filled with enthusiasts who had come to learn about the man widely considered to be the greatest American singer of 20th-century popular music.
Perhaps as importantly, they had come to hear insights on Sinatra from Seton Hawkins, one of the most popular teachers in the 31-year history of the Humanities Institute for Lifelong Learning, or HILL. Each time Hawkins teaches a sixweek course on jazz, as he does once a year, they quickly reach capacity of 220.
“Listening to Seton is an absolute delight. I don’t think there’s a better lecturer on jazz anywhere,” said Jay Donnaruma, 78, of Delmar, a jazz aficionado whose brother, Walter Donnaruma, is a jazz keyboardist. He and his wife, Stephanie, also attended Hawkins’ previous six-week HILL classes on Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong.
“Seton has been fabulous. We know we’re blessed to have him,” HILL organizer Allen Israel said of Hawkins, who rides the train from New York City, where he is director of public programs and education resources at Jazz at Lincoln Center. In other words, this guy is world-class.
Israel, 80, emeritus professor of psychology at the University at Albany, credits his son, Dan Israel, who works at Jazz at Lincoln Center, with
making the connection that brought Hawkins to HILL.
It’s a mutual admiration society.
“I might get 20 or 30 people when I teach a class in New York. To get 200 people for a six-week class on jazz is extraordinary,” Hawkins said. “My boss keeps asking me to find another group like HILL. I told him I’ve never found another one like it.”
Hawkins, 41, was born in Johannesburg, South Africa and grew up in Minneapolis, where he played cello and piano in his high school jazz band. He credited middle school teacher Phil Holm, a trumpet player, with instilling “a lifelong passion for jazz.” He earned a bachelor’s degree in musicology at Columbia University and an MBA at Babson College. He recently launched a record label, Africaarise, and hosts a weekly radio show on South African jazz.
He and his wife, Jessica Hertz, a writer, live in Queens, not far from where Louis Armstrong lived. They named their six-month-old son Louis after the jazz great, whom Hawkins called “the greatest artist of the 20th century.”
Hawkins pointed out his infant son, who swayed to Sinatra’s music, in his wife’s arms. The audience cooed and some brought gifts for the infant. Hawkins played Youtube clips of numerous Sinatra songs and peppered his lecture with witticisms and jokes. “Frank does a very good Ray Charles impersonation here,” Hawkins said before cueing up “That’s Life.” The audience chuckled.
Hawkins deconstructed the conundrum of “My Way” and Sinatra’s relationship to the song. “It became one of his biggest hits, but he talked openly about his disdain for the song the rest of his life,” Hawkins said. He detailed the original French version translated into English by Paul Anka before Sinatra made his recording in 1968 and “My Way” spent a historic 124 weeks on the U.K. singles charts.
“It was a most unlikely iconic song for Frank, which is also a surprising choice at a lot of funerals and the tune a newly elected fascist president chose for a dance with his wife,” Hawkins said. The audience applauded. The HILL crowd was keenly attuned to Hawkins’ humor.
“One of the things I love most about teaching here is that they get my jokes,” said Martha Rozett, 77, an emeritus Ualbany English professor who has taught a sixweek course on Shakespeare several times at HILL. “It’s a very appreciative and well-read audience and their questions show they’re really paying attention.”
Bruce Miroff, 79, an emeritus Ualbany political science professor, teaches a course every two years on the presidential election, which is expected to reach capacity quickly in the fall.
“Undergraduate students are very grade-conscious, but here there are no grades and they come for the pure love of learning,” Miroff said. “They are a very smart group and you get bathed with a level of attention that teachers don’t often see.”
HILL was established in 1993 by a retired Delmar couple, Fred and Helen Adler. She had been a popular English teacher at Bethlehem High School. The Adlers and a few friends set up the continuing education program through the Bethlehem Central School District, a collaboration that continues today. The Adlers dubbed it “the university in our town” and their philosophy was to provide “a new way to welcome the limitless variety of human knowledge from which we can learn to the last days of our lives.”
Barbara Richer, 79, recalled Helen Adler as an “inspiration and a savior” to her when her family moved to Delmar and she transferred to Bethlehem High in 1961 as a sophomore. “I didn’t have any friends and her English class was the bright spot in my day,” said Richer, now a HILL volunteer organizer. “She was a dynamic teacher who held us to high standards. I am here to honor Helen’s legacy.”
Another thing that makes HILL popular is its low price: $35 for a six-week course. The all-volunteer group simply aims to break even. Coffee and cookies are available for $1 each in the church auditorium.
Hawkins clearly admired Sinatra’s unique jazz phrasing and his brilliant recordings, but conceded some critics considered him a lesser artist because he did not write his own songs. He played a Sinatra cover of Paul Simon’s “Mrs. Robinson” and added: “It’s a little cringy. You could see why Paul Simon would have mixed feelings about that version.”
He next launched into a lengthy exegesis about Sinatra’s monster hit, “New York, New York.”
“Obviously, we’re going to spend a lot of time on this song, or you’d rightly run me out of town,” Hawkins said. The audience laughed, followed by applause when he said he looked forward to returning to HILL in 2025.
For information on upcoming classes, go to the HILL website at www.hillclasses.org.