Robert Cushman listens to Seth MacFarlane’s Music is Better than Words — and likes it
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It’s hard to think of sentiments less Family Guyish than “you couldn’t buy a ticket to hear the first robin sing” from this disc’s opening number, It’s Anybody’s Spring, delivered here with the kind of Bing Crosby insouciance that puts wit into whimsy. MacFarlane doesn’t have the edge or the depth of Sinatra, and his phrasing can sometimes be stiff. In fact he sounds more like one of the Sinatra’s more populist disciples from the next generation, most of all probably like Steve Lawrence. He has great control, and intonation of enviable perfection.
The disc is a tribute not only to the songs and singers of the era but, very explicitly, to the arrangers who contributed so much to the great jazz-pop vocal records of the 1950s. Unlike most singers who specialize in this material, MacFarlane can afford to hire a big orchestra of crack musicians, and part of the joy of this record is his joy in singing with them, the way in which he rides and crests the waves that they create.
more
Album Review: Music is Better than Words, by Seth MacFarlane | Arts | National Post
Sample:
Seth MacFarlane - The Sadder But Wiser Girl - YouTube
For kicks and distraction if this sort of popular music grinds your gears:
Inside The Actors Studio - The Cast Of Family Guy - YouTube
...
It’s hard to think of sentiments less Family Guyish than “you couldn’t buy a ticket to hear the first robin sing” from this disc’s opening number, It’s Anybody’s Spring, delivered here with the kind of Bing Crosby insouciance that puts wit into whimsy. MacFarlane doesn’t have the edge or the depth of Sinatra, and his phrasing can sometimes be stiff. In fact he sounds more like one of the Sinatra’s more populist disciples from the next generation, most of all probably like Steve Lawrence. He has great control, and intonation of enviable perfection.
The disc is a tribute not only to the songs and singers of the era but, very explicitly, to the arrangers who contributed so much to the great jazz-pop vocal records of the 1950s. Unlike most singers who specialize in this material, MacFarlane can afford to hire a big orchestra of crack musicians, and part of the joy of this record is his joy in singing with them, the way in which he rides and crests the waves that they create.
more
Album Review: Music is Better than Words, by Seth MacFarlane | Arts | National Post
Sample:
Seth MacFarlane - The Sadder But Wiser Girl - YouTube
For kicks and distraction if this sort of popular music grinds your gears:
Inside The Actors Studio - The Cast Of Family Guy - YouTube