By Bill Milkowski | Published January 2018
Anyone familiar with TV’s Family Guy knows that its creator, Seth MacFarlane, has always secretly fancied himself a swinging Vegas lounge singer. Flaunting a polished voice and an obvious affnity for
the Great American Songbook—he tackles classics by Irving Berlin, Sammy Cahn, Jimmy Van Heusen and Jerome Kern, among others—his presentation is genuine. And while he does seem comfortable with swing, he lacks the syncopated phrasing and intuitive choices of Sinatra to make it all feel effortless and in the moment. He aims for Ol’ Blue Eyes and comes up more Jack Jones.
In Full Swing showcases the revivalist singer in the company of a 48-piece orchestra anchored by drummer Peter Erskine and bassist Chuck Berghofer and featuring pianist Tom Ranier, guitarists Larry Koonse and John Parricelli and woodwinds ace Dan Higgins. While MacFarlane doesn’t hit one out of the park on In Full Swing, he smashes one into the gap in left-center field and legs out a solid triple.
In Full Swing: The First Time It Happens; Almost Like Being In Love; Isn’t This A Lovely Day; For You, For Me, For Evermore; Like Someone In Love; That Face; If I Had A Talking Picture Of You; I’m Glad There Is You; You Couldn’t Be Cuter; I Like Myself; You Can’t Love ’Em All; Have You Met Miss Jones?; A Kiss Or Two; But Beautiful; Moonlight Becomes You; My Buick, My Love And I. (49:00)
Personnel: Seth MacFarlane, vocals; Tom Ranier, piano; Chuck Berghofer, bass; Peter Erskine, drums; Larry Koonse, John Parricelli, guitar; Dan Higgins, Andy Panayi, Phil Todd, Jamie Talbot, woodwinds; Mike Lovatt, Patrick White, James Lynch, trumpet; Gordon Campbell, Danny Marsden, Jonathan Stokes, Andy Wood, Liam Kirkman, Peter North, trombone.
