This recording is a celebration of forty years of arguably the world's most famous and longest-running a cappella group. The current mixed-voice octet has gone back to its roots, teaming up with a world-class jazz rhythm section for this live CD to recreate both the look and sound of the original Swingles as it performs the greatest hits of the 60s and 70s, beginning and ending, of course with the composer on whose music the group was founded, J.S. Bach. The first part of the program includes 4 Bach gems, then 4 from Mozart's "Ein Kleine Nachtmusik and 3 Spanish romantic pieces like J. Rodrigo's "En Aranjuez con tu amor." Marvelous arrangements of Cole Porter's "Just One of Those Things" and Gershwin's "Fascinating Rhythm" delight us and the crowd. We get a glimpse of the Swingle's future, "Dejeuner sur l'herbe" by Parisian composer Pascal Zavaro, who is currently writing an opera with the group. As always, breathtaking, brilliant stuff from the Swingles! Highly recommended. |