Jazz Sebastian Bach and others / The Swingle Singers

When I was young, I listened to their records and was hooked. I can hide the fact that the Swingle Singers were the starting point of my Bach experience. Their fresh, intelligent, and exciting attempt to “sing” Bach in scat was a great success in both the classical and jazz worlds. “Jazz Sebastian Bach Vol. 1” began with the contrapunctus from the Art of Fugue No. 9, followed by the chorale prelude “I Hear a Voice Calling Me to Awake” and the “Aria” from Orchestral Suite No. 3. On the next one, “Jazz Sebastian Bach Vol. 2”, began with the concerto for two violins, the prelude from the Well-tempered Clavier No.10 of book1, and the famous chorale from Cantata No. 147 are followed. The third album, “Bach Hits Back” shows a new approach by interjecting a number of German chorales in their original form. “Bist du bei mir” sung in Jazzy Harmony (such as Major7th, 9th, 11th) is also stylish and good. The fourth disc, “Back to Bach,” begins with a grand fugue in G minor, followed by the heavenly harmonies of the Andante from the Second Sonata for Solo Violin, and the first movement of the Brandenburg Concerto No. 3. Around this fourth album, their policy began to change and they started to use electronic instruments in their performances, which I believe was a quite mistake. #baroque #bach #片山俊幸