by William RuhlmannFormerly known for his light jazz and easy listening singing and songwriting, Bobby Caldwell happened upon a second career as a classic-pop singer when he released Blue Condition in 1996. Now he sings standards in swanky nightclubs, and he has returned with a follow-up album, Come Rain or Come Shine, which again borrows heavily from Frank Sinatra's repertoire, and even uses the Nelson Riddle arrangements of "(I've Got The) World on a String" and "(I've Got You) Under My Skin," the Billy May arrangement of "Day In, Day Out," and the Quincy Jones arrangement of "The Best Is Yet to Come," all originally written for the Chairman of the Board. The charts are not ideally suited to Caldwell's voice, which is higher and smoother than Sinatra's. It takes a lot of authority to dominate the wailing big band on these orchestrations, and though Caldwell is competent, he makes the comparison with Sinatra inevitable and, of course, suffers. The album repeats his Bobby Darin-like performance of "Beyond the Sea" previously heard on Blue Condition, presumably because it was featured in commercials for a new fragrance the month before Come Rain or Come Shine's release. And, as on Blue Condition, there is a Caldwell original, "April Moon," written in a classic-pop style and distinctive enough to make you wish he'd write a whole album's worth of such tunes. Like its predecessor, the album is no doubt a necessary platform for Caldwell's live performances of this material as well as a souvenir of those shows. But while the singer handles himself well, on record, where he is in competition with his predecessors on the CD player, he comes up short. Why play this record if you have one of Sinatra's?