Behold, out of nowhere and with no explanation, Universal/Philips has chosen to reissue the perennially favored (some would say cult favorite) Swingle Singers recordings (from 1963 and 1968) that originally appeared as Jazz Sébastien Bach, Volumes 1 & 2. Remastered with more clarity and slightly more punch than the LP and previous CD incarnations (these two albums are still available on a single-CD compilation), these discs are bound to brighten the spirits of many 50-year-old listeners who remember the time back in 1963 when as teenagers or young college students they first heard Alabaman Ward Swingle’s amazing French vocal group and got forever hooked on both Bach and jazz. If you’ve never heard this eight-member virtuoso ensemble do its jazz-inspired vocalizations of Bach’s music–keyboard preludes, fugues, and partitas, and selections from concertos, orchestral suites, and cantatas–then you’ve certainly heard later, and invariably inferior, imitators. This is the real thing–and it’s wonderful stuff. Yes, some will complain about the skimpy LP-era playing times of slightly more than 30 minutes for each disc, but, we do get the original packaging and liner notes–and after careful comparison, the sonic improvement is definitely noticeable if not substantial. I hope that this also means we will get a similarly remastered reissue of Anyone for Bach, Handel, Vivaldi?, which gets my vote for the best Swingle Singers recording of them all. Meanwhile, get these and start swinging! [Note: Vol. 1 is posted separately.] [4/30/2001]
