''Holiday for Swing'' is the second studio album and first

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

album by American actor and singer

Seth MacFarlane Seth Woodbury MacFarlane (; born October 26, 1973) is an American actor, animator, filmmaker, comedian, and singer. He is the creator and star of the television series '' Family Guy'' (since 1999) and '' The Orville'' (since 2017), and co-creat ...

, released by

Republic Records Republic Records is a New York City–based American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). It was founded by Avery Lipman and Monte Lipman as an independent label in 1995, and was acquired by UMG in 2000. Republic was initially an ...

on September 30, 2014. It is available on CD,

vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl ...

and as a digital download. The album is a collection of Christmas songs and contains collaborations with artists including

Norah Jones Norah Jones (born Geethali Norah Jones Shankar; March 30, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. She has won several awards for her music and as of 2012, has sold more than 50 million records worldwide. ''Billboard'' named her the ...

and

Sara Bareilles Sara Beth Bareilles (, ; born December 7, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She has sold over three million albums and over 15 million singles in the United States. She has earned various awards and nominations including nin ...

. It also features

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the " Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular entertainers of the 1940s, 1950s, and ...

's bassist

Chuck Berghofer Charles Curtis Berghofer (born June 14, 1937), professionally known as Chuck Berghofer, is an American jazz double bassist and electric bassist, who has worked as a studio musician and in the film industry for more than 60 years, including workin ...

as well as a 65-piece

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

. The album is the follow-up to MacFarlane's Grammy-nominated 2011 debut album ''

Music Is Better Than Words ''Music Is Better Than Words'' is the debut studio album by American actor and singer Seth MacFarlane. The album was produced and conducted by film and television composer Joel McNeely, who is also one of the composers of ''American Dad!'', an anim ...

''. Like ''Music Is Better Than Words'', ''Holiday for Swing'' was produced and conducted by film and television composer

Joel McNeely Joel McNeely (born March 28, 1959) is an American composer, arranger, musician, lyricist, and record producer. A protégé of composer Jerry Goldsmith, he is best known for his film and television scores. He won the Primetime Emmy Award for Ou ...

Background and recording

On May 15, 2014, it was announced that MacFarlane had completed his first Christmas album and that it would be released in time for the 2014 holiday season. The album was recorded between

Christmas Day Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, ...

and

New Year's Eve In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve, also known as Old Year's Day or Saint Sylvester's Day in many countries, is the evening or the entire day of the last day of the year, on 31 December. The last day of the year is commonly referred to ...

2013 in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

and in studio 2 at

Abbey Road Studios Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. In an interview with ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

'', MacFarlane explained why the album was recorded during the holidays nearly one year before its release:

"Generally with a holiday album, you find yourself making the recordings during the summer or any time but Christmas, with this one we actually lucked out. Part of it was because we didn't want to bump up against the production schedule for '' Ted 2'', which is not an ideal time to be recording anything with 12 to 15 hour days shooting a movie. It worked out nicely, and it was just a pure joy to do."

Release

''Holiday for Swing'' was released on September 30, 2014, through

Critical reception

''Holiday for Swing'' received mostly positive reviews from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

upon its release.

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance writer, oc ...

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

rated the album three stars out of five and states: "Apart from the ever so slight notion that he's singing with a wink borrowed from Burl Ives -- a tell that gives away his status as a Gen-Xer weaned on Rankin & Bass holiday productions -- MacFarlane plays it straight, even when he's camping it up with Sara Bareilles on "Baby, It's Cold Outside" (Norah Jones is the other guest, singing on "Little Jack Frost Get Lost"), and this sincerity plays out in his favor."

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from

: ;Production *

—

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchest ...

, conductor,

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are des ...

, producer *

Jonathan Allen Jonathan Allen (born January 16, 1995) is an American football defensive tackle for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Alabama, where he won several defensive player of the year awards ...

—

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considerin ...

*Rich Breen — Engineer, mixing *Joy Fehily — executive producer *Mark Graham — music preparation *Isobel Griffiths — contracting *Dave Hage — librarian *JoAnn Kane — music preparation *

Bob Ludwig Robert C. Ludwig (born c. 1945) is an American mastering engineer. He has mastered recordings on all the major recording formats for all the major record labels, and on projects by more than 1,300 artists including Led Zeppelin, Lou Reed, Que ...

— mastering *Matthew Peak — illustrations ;Additional musicians *

Jennifer Barnes Jennifer Chase Barnes (born 30 July 1960) is a musicologist and former university administrator. She was a Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor in the University of Cambridge, and the 4th President of Murray Edwards College, Cambridge� ...

— vocals (background) *Dan Bates —

cor anglais The cor anglais (, or original ; plural: ''cors anglais''), or English horn in North America, is a double-reed woodwind instrument in the oboe family. It is approximately one and a half times the length of an oboe, making it essentially an al ...

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. ...

—

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

*Mark Berrow —

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

*Richard Berry —

French horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most ...

*Ishani Bhoola — violin *Dave Bishop —

B-flat clarinet A soprano clarinet is a clarinet that is higher in register than the basset horn or alto clarinet. The unmodified word ''clarinet'' usually refers to the B clarinet, which is by far the most common type. The term ''soprano'' also applies to the ...

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedles ...

, flute (alto), sax (tenor) *Richard Bissill — French horn *Nigel Black — French horn *Graeme Blevins — B-flat clarinet, flute, flute (alto), sax (alto), sax (soprano) *John Bradbury — violin *Gordon Campbell — trombone (tenor) *Emil Chakalov — violin *Reiad Chibah —

viola ; german: Bratsche , alt=Viola shown from the front and the side , image=Bratsche.jpg , caption= , background=string , hornbostel_sachs=321.322-71 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded by a bow , range= , related= *Violin family ...

*Chris Cowie — cor anglais, oboe *Dave Daniels — celli *Tim Davis — vocal contractor, vocals (background) *Caroline Dearnley — celli *Alison Dods — violin *Phillip Eastop — French horn *Dai Emanuel — violin *

Peter Erskine Peter Erskine (born June 5, 1954) is an American jazz drummer who was a member of the jazz fusion groups Weather Report and Steps Ahead. Early life and education Erskine was born in Somers Point, New Jersey, U.S. He began playing the dru ...

—

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

*Andrew Gathercole —

flugelhorn The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B, though som ...

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

*Richard George — violin *Tim Gill — celli *Adam Goldsmith — guitar (acoustic) *Missi Hale — vocals (background) * David Hartley —

celeste Celeste may refer to: Geography * Mount Celeste, unofficial name of a mountain on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada * Celeste, Texas, a rural city in North Texas ** Celeste High School, public high school located in the city of Celeste, ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

*Andrew Haveron — leader, violin *John Heley — celli *Ian Humphries — violin *Magnus Johnston — leader, violin *Karen Jones — flute *Skaila Kanga —

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orc ...

*Patrick Kiernan — violin *Liam Kirkman — trombone (tenor) *Julia Knight — viola *Teri Eiko Koide — vocals (background) *Boguslaw Kostecki — violin *David Loucks — vocals (background) *Mike Lovatt — flugelhorn, trumpet *Jim Lynch — flugelhorn, trumpet *Seth MacFarlane — liner notes *Rita Manning — violin *Danny Marsden — flugelhorn, trumpet *Eliza Marshall — flute *Howard McGill — B-flat clarinet, flute, flute (alto), sax (tenor) *Steve Morris — violin *Nick Moss — B-flat clarinet, flute, flute (alto), sax (tenor) *Kate Musker — viola *Everton Nelson — leader, violin *Mark Nightingale — trombone (tenor) *Andy Panayi — B-flat clarinet, flute, flute (alto), sax (alto), sax (soprano) *John Parricelli — guitar (acoustic) *Alan Pasqua — piano *Camilla Pay — harp *David Pyatt — French horn * Frank Ricotti —

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

*Tom Rizzo — guitar (acoustic) *Martin Robertson — B-flat clarinet, clarinet (bass), flute, sax (baritone) *Jackie Shave — leader, violin *Emlyn Singleton — violin *Colin Skinner — B-flat clarinet, clarinet (bass), flute, sax (baritone) *Sonia Slany — violin *Jamie Talbot — B-flat clarinet, flute, flute (alto), sax (alto), sax (soprano) *Cathy Thompson — violin *Phil Todd — B-flat clarinet, flute, flute (alto), sax (alto), sax (soprano) *Chris Tombling — violin *Bozidar Vukotic — celli *Vicci Wardman — viola *Richard Watkins — French horn *Bruce White — viola *Pat White — flugelhorn, trumpet *Rolf Wilson — violin *Andy Wood — trombone (bass)

Chart performance

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2014 Christmas albums Albums produced by Joel McNeely Christmas albums by American artists Covers albums Pop Christmas albums Republic Records albums Seth MacFarlane albums Swing Christmas albums