The Swingles

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The Swingles
The Swingle Singers (1964).jpg
The original French Swingle Singers in 1964
Background information
Also known asThe Swingle Singers
OriginParis, France
Genres Jazz, classical, vocal pop
Years active1962–present
Members
  • Mallika Bhagwat
  • Jamie Wright
  • Joanna Goldsmith-Eteson
  • Oliver Griffiths
  • Imogen Parry
  • Tom Hartley
  • Jon Smith
Past membersSee below
Website theswingles.co.uk

The Swingles are an a cappella vocal group. The Swingle Singers originally formed in 1962 in Paris under the leadership of Ward Swingle. In 1973, Swingle disbanded the French group, and formed an English group known initially as Swingle II and later as the New Swingle Singers, before settling on the Swingles name.

Contents

History

French group

The Swingle Singers at the Grand Gala du Disque in the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Netherlands in 1964 SwingleSingers1964.jpg
The Swingle Singers at the Grand Gala du Disque in the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Netherlands in 1964

The Swingle Singers were formed in Paris in 1962 and directed originally by Ward Swingle (who once belonged to Mimi Perrin's French vocal group Les Double Six). [1] They began as session singers, mainly doing backing vocals for singers such as Charles Aznavour and Edith Piaf. Their original lineup was Anne Germain, Claude Germain, Jeanette Baucomont, Christiane Legrand, Claudine Meunier, Jean-Claude Briodin, and Jean Cussac, [2] with Legrand (sister of Michel Legrand) the original lead soprano. [1] The ensemble sang some jazz vocals for Michel Legrand.

The eight session singers sang through Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier as a sight-reading exercise and found the music to have a natural swing. They recorded their first album Jazz Sébastien Bach as a present for friends and relatives. Many radio stations picked it up and this led to the group recording more albums and winning a total of five Grammy Awards. [2] [3] The French group typically performed and recorded with a double bass and drums as accompaniment. [4]

In 1973, Ward Swingle disbanded the original French group when he and his family moved to England. [1]

English group

The Swingles at the Black Forest Voices Festival in Kirchzarten, Germany in 2019 The Swingles jm102026.jpg
The Swingles at the Black Forest Voices Festival in Kirchzarten, Germany in 2019

In England, Swingle assembled a group of singers with an emphasis moved from classical music to a cappella arrangements of madrigals and then on to other styles. This group debuted Swingle II, and performed and recorded under the name The Swingles, The New Swingle Singers, and The Swingle Singers before settling on The Swingles.

The group has remained continuously active since its formation, with departing members replaced by audition. Ward Swingle continued as a performer in the group until retiring to the United States in 1984 and taking the role of "musical adviser" to the Swingles until his death in 2015. [5]

Until 2011, the group consisted of eight voices: two sopranos, two altos, two tenors and two basses. However, when alto Lucy Bailey left the group in 2011, the Swingles announced the decision not to replace her, but to continue as a seven-person line-up. [6]

The current group performs primarily, but not exclusively, a cappella and over the decades has explored a wide range of styles, from show tunes to rock to avant garde to world folkloric music to straight ahead jazz to classical, including the entire repertoire of the original Swingle Singers. [7] The Swingles are curators of the London A Cappella Festival, based at Kings Place. [1]

As of October 2023, the members are:

Performances and releases

An early hit for the group was Bach's "Air on the G String", recorded with the Modern Jazz Quartet; it has been used as the theme tune to a popular Italian TV Show, Superquark, [11] as well as the Swedish Children's program, Beppes godnattstund, hosted by Beppe Wolgers. [12] Luciano Berio wrote his postmodern symphony Sinfonia for eight voices and orchestra in 1968 with the Swingle Singers in mind (appearing on the original premiere recording with the New York Philharmonic). [13] They also premiered Berio's A-Ronne in 1974, which they later recorded. [1] They also recorded Ben Johnston's "Sonnets of Desolation" in 1984.

In 2005, their recording of Bach's Prelude in F Minor was incorporated into the hit single "They", by Jem Griffiths; the piece was also used in the 2006 film The Gigolos . The group's music has a trademark sound and is used frequently on television ( The West Wing , Sex and the City , Miami Vice , Glee ), [6] in movies (Bach's Fugue in G Minor (BWV 578) in Thank You for Smoking , Mozart's "Horn Concerto No. 4" in Wedding Crashers , Bach's "Prelude No.7 in E flat [The Well Tempered Clavier – Book 2 BWV 876]" in Milk).

The English group sang with French pop star Étienne Daho on his songs "Timide intimité" and "Soudain" from his 1996 album Eden, and with the Style Council on their song "The Story of Someone's Shoe" from the 1988 album Confessions of a Pop Group. They appeared several times on the BBC Television sketch show The Two Ronnies in the early 1970s. [1]

In September 2014, the French blog Dans l'ombre des studios published Swingle Singers' Pavane for a Dead Princess (Maurice Ravel), a previously unreleased 1967 recording. [14]

Discography

Past members

Source = [15]

Related Research Articles

The Paris-based Swingle Singers recorded regularly for Philips in the 1960s and early 1970s and the successor London-based group continued to record, for Columbia / CBS, Virgin Classics and other record labels from 1974 to the present.

<i>Going Baroque</i> 1964 studio album by The Swingle Singers

Going Baroque is the second album released by the Paris-based Swingle Singers. The album was a 1964 Grammy award winner for "Best Performance by a Chorus."

<i>Bachs Greatest Hits</i> 1963 studio album by The Swingle Singers

Jazz Sébastien Bach is the debut album released by the Paris-based Swingle Singers. The album was a 1964 Grammy award winner for "Best Performance by a Chorus" and the group also won the 1964 Grammy award for "Best New Artist".

<i>Getting Romantic</i> 1965 studio album by The Swingle Singers

Getting Romantic is the fourth album released by The Swingle Singers.

<i>Anyone for Mozart?</i> 1965 studio album by The Swingle Singers

Anyone for Mozart? is the third album released by the Swingle Singers. The album was a 1965 Grammy award winner for "Best Performance by a Chorus."

<i>Anyone for Mozart, Bach, Handel, Vivaldi?</i> 1986 compilation album by The Swingle Singers

Anyone for Mozart, Bach, Handel, Vivaldi? is a CD compilation re-issue of music by the Swingle Singers. It combines tracks from two previous LP releases, Going Baroque and Swinging Mozart.

<i>Back to Bach</i> 1968 studio album by The Swingle Singers

Back to Bach is a 1968 album released by the Paris-based Swingle Singers.

<i>Jazz Sebastian Bach</i> 2000 compilation album by The Swingle Singers

Jazz Sebastian Bach is a compilation album/re-issue of music by the Paris-based Swingle Singers. It combines the tracks from two previous releases:

<i>Rococo Á Go Go</i> 1966 studio album by The Swingle Singers

Rococo Á Go Go is the fifth album released by the Swingle Singers. The album was nominated for a 1966 Grammy award.

<i>Place Vendôme</i> (Swingle Singers with MJQ album) 1966 studio album by The Swingle Singers with the Modern Jazz Quartet

Place Vendôme is an album released by the Swingle Singers performing with the Modern Jazz Quartet. The album was a 1967 Grammy award nominee.

<i>Spanish Masters</i> 1967 studio album by The Swingle Singers

Spanish Masters is the seventh album released by the Paris-based Swingle Singers. All tracks from this album are also included on the 11 disk Philips boxed set, Swingle Singers.

<i>Compact Jazz: The Swingle Singers</i> 1987 compilation album by The Swingle Singers

Compact Jazz: The Swingle Singers is a compilation album of previously released tracks from 3 Philips Swingle Singers recordings: Place Vendôme, Getting Romantic and Spanish Masters.

<i>Swingle Singers</i> (Philips boxed set)

The 2005 Philips boxed set, Swingle Singers is a compilation of all eleven of the Paris-based Swingle Singers' recordings made for Philips between 1963 and 1972. Ten of the eleven disks included in this boxed set had also been re-issued previously by Philips (Emarcy) in five "two-fer" compilation sets over the preceding five years.

<i>Christmastime</i> (The Swingle Singers album) 1968 studio album by The Swingle Singers

Christmastime 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). All tracks from this album are also included on the 11 disk Philips boxed set, Swingle Singers.

<i>Operazione San Pietro</i> (soundtrack) 1968 soundtrack album by The Swingle Singers

Operazione San Pietro is a soundtrack album for the 1967 Lucio Fulci movie of the same name - with music by Ward Swingle performed by The Swingle Singers.

<i>American Look</i> 1969 studio album by The Swingle Singers

American Look is a 1969 album by the Swingle Singers on the Philips Records label. All tracks from this album are also included on the 11 disk Philips boxed set, Swingle Singers.

<i>The Joy of Singing</i> 1972 studio album by The Swingle Singers

The Joy of Singing, a.k.a.Les 4 Saisons is a 1972 album by the Swingle Singers on the Philips Records label. All tracks from this album are also included on the 11 disk Philips boxed set, Swingle Singers.

<i>Bitter Ending</i> 1972 studio album by The Swingle Singers

Bitter Ending is a recording of a work for eight voices composed by Andre Hodeir as commissioned by Ward Swingle. The work is performed by the Swingle Singers with a jazz quintet. This was the last work by Hodeir and is inspired by James Joyce's Finnegans Wake

<i>Sinfonia</i> (1968 Berio album) 1969 studio album by Luciano Berio, The Swingle Singers, The New York Philharmonic

Sinfonia is a 1968 Columbia Records recording of Luciano Berio conducting the New York Philharmonic and The Swingle Singers in the premiere of his four-movement "Sinfonia." The composer would later add a fifth movement.

Jean Cussac is a French baritone and music director.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Simpson, Olive (21 January 2015). "Ward Swingle obituary". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 31 March 2020.
  2. 1 2 Colin Larkin, ed. (1997). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music (Concise ed.). Virgin Books. p. 1158. ISBN   1-85227-745-9.
  3. ↑ "Ward Swingle". Grammy Awards. 19 November 2019. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
  4. ↑ Adam Bernstein (20 January 2015). "Ward Swingle, musician who made Bach swing, dies at 87". Washington Post. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
  5. ↑ "Ward Swingle, jazz vocalist - obituary". Telegraph. 20 January 2015. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
  6. 1 2 3 "The Swingles". Theswingles.co.uk. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
  7. ↑ Eugene Chadbourne. "Ward Swingle - Biography". AllMusic . Retrieved 23 January 2020.
  8. ↑ "We have a new tenor! — The Swingles". 13 May 2016. Archived from the original on 13 May 2016. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
  9. ↑ "News". Theswingles.co.uk. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
  10. ↑ "Welcome Our New Bass, Tom". The Swingles.co.uk. 14 June 2022. Retrieved 3 December 2022.
  11. ↑ "Swingle Singer ospiti di Superquark". Il Corriere Musicale (in Italian). 18 December 2011. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
  12. ↑ Agrell, Alexander (15 October 2016). "Lunds körfestival drar igång på måndag". Sydsvenskan (in Swedish). Retrieved 31 March 2020.
  13. ↑ Service, Tom (5 November 2013). "Symphony guide: Luciano Berio's Sinfonia". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 31 March 2020.
  14. ↑ Rémi C., "Unreleased recording: "Pavane for a dead Princess" (Ravel) by The Swingle Singers (1967)", Dans l'ombre des studios, 28 September 2014.
  15. ↑ "Swingle Singers Gallery". Jazz History Online. 5 March 2019. Retrieved 7 November 2021.
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