The DNJ thread morphed into an interesting subject that deserves its own thread. Ian eloquently stated a change in his passion of playing arrangers. Others referred to quitting or retiring. Then I ran across a local article featuring an interview with Frank Sinatra Jr.

This is what he had to say about his father working right up to his death:
It’s obvious that Frank Sinatra Jr. takes seriously his role as the keeper of his famous father’s flame. But he also believes that he, and the music, helped extend not only that legacy, but the life of the man himself.
“That working environment he put himself in is what kept him alive,” says the 65-year-old singer, who was his father’s band leader for the last seven years of his life and encouraged him to keep performing as long as he could.
“That was the most important thing … Now that I’m approaching that age, I know that the dirtiest word in the English language is ‘retirement.’ You get old, you get sick and you die. I am firmly convinced that means death. He was working, and it kept him alive.”

The entire article can be found here: http://www.pbpulse.com/events/2009/12/29/sinatra-jr-happily-picks-up-the-torch/
Eddie