''In Full Swing'' is the fourth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records c ...

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 ...

. It was released on September 15, 2017, through

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 ...

and

Verve Records Verve Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). Founded in 1956 by Norman Granz, the label is home to the world's largest jazz catalogue, which includes recordings by artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simon ...

. The record was primarily produced by

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 ...

and MacFarlane himself, who also serves as the executive producer. Featured artists included on the album are American singer-songwriter

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 American actress and singer

Elizabeth Gillies Elizabeth Egan Gillies (born July 26, 1993) is an American actress and singer. She gained prominence for her starring roles as Jade West in the Nickelodeon series ''Victorious'' (2010–2013), and as Fallon Carrington on The CW revival of ''Dy ...

. The album received two nominations at the

60th Annual Grammy Awards The 60th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held on January 28, 2018. The CBS network broadcast the show live from Madison Square Garden in New York City. The show was moved to January to avoid coinciding with the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeong ...

for

Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album The Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album is an award presented to recording artists at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. Honors in several categories are presented ...

and Best Arrangement, Instrumental and Vocals.

Background

On May 23, 2016, MacFarlane announced on his Twitter account that he was recording songs for his new album. On May 28, 2016, he revealed that the songs on the album were arranged by

, whom he had worked with on the previous three albums. On May 30, 2016, MacFarlane revealed that it was his final day of recording 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 ...

and thanked all the musicians who collaborated with him on the album. On August 17, 2017, the album was officially announced and was set to be released a month later.

Singles

The album's first lead single, "That Face", was released on August 17, 2017. The album's second single, "

Almost Like Being in Love "Almost Like Being in Love" is a show tune with music by Frederick Loewe and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner. It was written for the score of their 1947 musical ''Brigadoon''. The song was first sung by David Brooks and Marion Bell, in the Broadway ...

", was released on August 28, 2017. The album's third and final single, " Have You Met Miss Jones?", was released on September 7, 2017.

Critical reception

''In Full Swing'' received mostly positive reviews from music critics.

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 ...

's Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote: "Standing in contrast to the moody 2015 set ''

No One Ever Tells You ''No One Ever Tells You'' is the third studio album by American actor and singer Seth MacFarlane. The album was released on September 30, 2015 through Republic Records. The album features Frank Sinatra's bassist Chuck Berghofer as well as a 65-pie ...

'', 2017's ''In Full Swing'' contains some of the sunny brio its title suggests. Chalk it up to the songs Seth MacFarlane selects, of course. There's nary a song of heartbreak among the album's 16 numbers, and he doesn't rely on overly familiar tunes, either. This lighthearted batch of songs is given effervescent arrangements by Joel McNeely, who gladly keeps the proceedings cool and breezy. As always, MacFarlane and McNeely are so besotted with Frank Sinatra's classic long-players for Capitol that their act can seem like a bit of swinging cosplay, with MacFarlane mimicking Old Blue Eyes' finger-snapping charm and McNeely penning love letters to Nelson Riddle, but their execution is expert and, since the touch is light, ''In Full Swing'' feels looser and better than its predecessors. MacFarlane and McNeely have taken Frank's advice to take things Nice 'n' Easy to heart, and they're the better for it." Christopher Louden from ''

JazzTimes ''JazzTimes'' is an American magazine devoted to jazz. Published 10 times a year, it was founded in Washington, D.C. in 1970 by Ira Sabin as the newsletter ''Radio Free Jazz'' to complement his record store. Coverage After a decade of growt ...

'' praised the album, writing, "MacFarlane proves (yet again) fully worthy of such bounty. Alongside top-tier standards from the Gershwins, Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, Rodgers and Hart, Lerner and Loewe and Jimmy Van Heusen, he unearths several less precious though no less glittering baubles. Among them: the overjoyed "I Like Myself", from ''

It's Always Fair Weather ''It's Always Fair Weather'' is a 1955 MGM musical satire scripted by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, who also wrote the show's lyrics, with music by André Previn and starring Gene Kelly, Dan Dailey, Cyd Charisse, Dolores Gray, and dancer/chore ...

''; the jaunty Gordon MacRae-Gisele McKenzie number "My Buick, My Love and I" (featuring

); the pert "A Kiss or Two"; and a sparkling parry with

on "If I Had a Talking Picture of You". Through it all, you can't help but be carried away by MacFarlane’s joie de vivre, like a kid in a candy store gleefully sharing his sugar-dusted treats."

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from AllMusic. * Jonathan Aasgaard – cello * Richard Altenbach – violin * John Anderson – oboe * Timothy Ball – horn * Lianne Barnard – flute * John Barrett – engineering assistance * Francesca Barritt – violin * Annie Beilby – viola * Wayne Bergeron – trumpet * Chuck Berghofer – bass, rhythm bass * Alan Bergman – composition * Irving Berlin – composition * Rich Breen – engineering, mixing * Alan Broadbent – keyboards * Jack Brooks – composition * Robert Brophy – viola * Johnny Burke – composition * Sammy Cahn – composition * Rowena Calvert – cello * Gordon Campbell – trombone * Roberto Cani – violin * Corinne Chapelle – violin * Pete Christlieb – saxophone * Stephano Civetta – engineering assistance * Heather Clark – flute * Dave Collins – mastering * Betty Comden – composition * Tom Croxon – orchestra contractor * Wade Culbreath – percussion * Hannah Dawson – violin * Autumn de Wilde – cover photo * Brian Dembow – viola * Buddy DeSylva – composition * Shlomy Dobrinsky – violin * Jimmy Dorsey – composition * Pierre Doumenge – cello * Bruce Dukov – violin * Pip Eastop – horn * Stephen Erdody – cello *

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 * Alan Estes – percussion * Dave Everson – horn * Joy Fehily – executive production * Dorothy Fields – composition * Chuck Findley – trumpet * Marlow Fisher – viola * Matthew Funes – viola * Lorenz Gamma – violin * George Gershwin – composition * Ira Gershwin – composition * Elizabeth Gillies – vocals * Mark Graham – music preparation * Peter Graham – violin * Endre Granat – violin * Adolph Green – composition * Clifford Grey – composition * Henry Gronnier – violin * Lorenz Hart – composition * Andrew Harvey – violin * Clayton Haslop – violin * Tamara Hatwan – violin * Ray Henderson – composition * James Van Heusen – composition * Dan Higgins – alto saxophone, saxophone, woodwind * Steven Holtman – trombone * Greg Huckins – saxophone * Alex Iles – trombone * Jeremy Isaac – violin * Kurt Iswarienko – photography * Charis Jenson – violin * Karen Jones – flute * Norah Jones – vocals * Dennis Karmazyn – viola * Daniel Kelly – horn * Jerome Kern – composition * Liam Kirkman – trombone * Larry Koonse – guitar * Aimee Kreston – violin * Armen Ksajikian – cello * Stephen Kujala – flute * Dunja Lavrova – violin * Alan Jay Lerner – composition * Phillip Levy – violin * Gary Lindsay – vocal consultant * Bill Liston – saxophone * Frederick Loewe – composition * Mike Lovatt – trumpet * Warren Luening – trumpet * James Lynch – trumpet * Jens Lynen – violin * Seth MacFarlane – vocals, production * Paul Madeira – composition * Danny Marsden – trumpet * Andrew Martin – trombone * Ciaran McCabe – violin * Joel McNeely – arrangement, conducting, production * John Mills – violin * Victoria Miskolczy – viola * Catherine Musker – viola * Benjamin Newton – viola * Helen Nightengale – violin * Peter Noah – bass trombone * Cheryl Norman – violin * Michael Nowak – viola * Brian O'Connor – horn * Sid Page – violin * Andy Panayi – alto saxophone * Joel Pargman – violin * Alyssa Park – violin * John Parricelli – guitar * André Previn – composition * Tom Ranier – celeste, piano * Joe Raposo – composition * Bill Reichenbach – trombone * Mark Robertson – violin * Leo Robin – composition * Richard Rodgers – composition * Ruth Rogers – violin * Benedict Rogerson – cello * Anatoly Rosinsky – violin * Geraldine Rotella – flute * Roberto Ruisi – violin * Brian Scanlon – saxophone * Colin Skinner – baritone saxophone * Frank Skinner – composition * David H. Speltz – viola * Lew Spence – composition * Joe Spix – art direction * Jonathan Stokes – trombone * Jule Styne – composition * Bob Summers – trumpet * Jamie Talbot – tenor saxophone * James Thatcher – horn * Phil Todd – tenor saxophone * Cecilia Tsan – viola * Viktoriya Tsoy – design * Jo Ann Turovsky – harp * Josefina Vergara – violin * Dave Walther – viola * Sam Walton – percussion, timpani * Vicci Wardman – viola * Hugh Webb – harp * David Weiss – oboe * Patrick White – trumpet * Roger Wilkie – violin * Steven Wilkie – violin * Andy Wood – trombone * Vincent Youmans – composition

Charts

''In Full Swing'' debuted at No. 2 on the US ''Billboard'' Top Jazz Albums.

Release history

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2017 albums Albums produced by Joel McNeely Big band albums Covers albums Republic Records albums Seth MacFarlane albums Swing albums Verve Records albums