Swingle Signer

This "two-fer" from the acclaimed French vocal troupe features Bach Hits Back and A Cappella Amadeus. Fans of the group's impeccable a cappella versions of classic Baroque, fugues, madrigals, and orchestral overtures will find much to love here, while those who pass the collective off as talented purveyors of whimsical novelty will only make it through the first two or three tracks.

Christmastime (released as Noëls Sans Passeport in France, Christmas with the Swingle Singers in the Netherlands) is an album of Christmas songs released by the Swingle Singers in 1968 on the Philips Records label. It was reissued with the title Christmas Album (1980).
A French vocal group famed for tackling all manner of classical material (Baroque, fugues, madrigals, orchestral overtures) and switching them to an a cappella swing setting, the Swingle Singers was formed in Paris during the early '60s by American expatriate Ward Swingle…

This 16-song compilation (which appears in identical form in Japan under the series name The Best Artists of Jazz: The Swingle Singers) is an excellent overview of the group's work, with nearly half of its just-under-an-hour running time given over to their collaborations with John Lewis and the Modern Jazz Quartet. The latter material is full of surprises and embraces a wide variety of material, from Bach's "Air on G String" to Lewis' own "Three Windows" and "Little David's Fugue," which are probably the best cuts here. The group's work without the MJQ in tow is also quite dazzling, including the delightful Mussorgsky adaptation "Le Marche de Limoges." There's room for more material than these 16 tracks, of course, but for a survey of some of the highlights of their history, this CD is an excellent place to start.

The Jazz Club series is an attractive addition to the Verve catalogue. With it's modern design and popular choice of repertoire, the Jazz Club is not only opened for Jazz fans, but for everyone that loves good music.

The soundtrack for first-time director Jason Reitman's satire of Big Tobacco spin plays like an amiable, city slicker sequel to O Brother, Where Art Thou?. Tex Williams' western swing standard "Smoke, Smoke, Smoke That Cigarette!" kicks things off with a mischievous grin, laying the groundwork for classics from Patsy Cline ("Three Cigarettes in an Ashtray"), Otis Redding ("Cigarettes and Coffee"), the Mills Brothers ("Smoke Rings"), and the Platters ("Smoke Gets in Your Eyes"). The thread is obvious, but the selections sound handpicked rather than researched solely on the basis of their subject matter. Composer Rolfe Kent, who brought such an excellent sense of place to 2004's Sideways, manages to echo the hipster swing of the Mancini-era '60s without sounding regressive, providing Thank You for Smoking with a cheerful brevity that keeps the spin more balanced than fair.

The definitive anthology of one of the most successful British pop groups of the late 60s. Doing exactly what it says on the tin, this 6-CD release features every note of the band’s recordings during their halcyon days with CBS. Including huge hit singles (‘Here Comes My Baby’, ‘Even The Bad Times Are Good’, ‘Silence Is Golden’, ‘(Call Me) Number One’ etc). Plus highly-regarded psych-pop B-sides, criminally overlooked album tracks, alternative versions, outtakes, foreign language recordings, a live cabaret album and even the first-ever full release of the complete sessions for the 1970 cult movie ‘May Morning’, ‘The Complete CBS Recordings’ gathers everything under one roof for the first - and, almost certainly, the last time…

The definitive anthology of one of the most successful British pop groups of the late 60s. Doing exactly what it says on the tin, this 6-CD release features every note of the band’s recordings during their halcyon days with CBS. Including huge hit singles (‘Here Comes My Baby’, ‘Even The Bad Times Are Good’, ‘Silence Is Golden’, ‘(Call Me) Number One’ etc). Plus highly-regarded psych-pop B-sides, criminally overlooked album tracks, alternative versions, outtakes, foreign language recordings, a live cabaret album and even the first-ever full release of the complete sessions for the 1970 cult movie ‘May Morning’, ‘The Complete CBS Recordings’ gathers everything under one roof for the first - and, almost certainly, the last time…