Phca

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.