The Real Group Archives | Jeff Meshel's World

209: The Real Group: ‘Monica Vals’ (‘Waltz for Debby’)

When they say ‘The voice is the only instrument made by God’, they’re thinking of Margareta Bengston of The Real Group singing Bill Evans’ ‘Waltz for Debby’. Four minutes in heaven.

April 21, 2020 by jeff A Cappella Jazz Nordic Song Of the week Vocalists 2

192: Les Double Six of Paris, “Moanin'”

The hard-bop jazz vocal sextet Les Double Six of Paris–their sources, their contemporaries and their followers; and why vocal jazz groups loved singing Count Basie.

January 2, 2020 by jeff Jazz Song Of the week Vocalists

173: The Real Group, ‘Nature Boy’

An immaculate union of the pristine and the passionate – The Real Group in a breathtaking take on ‘Nature Boy’. It’s just a little perfect.

September 19, 2019 by jeff A Cappella Nordic Song Of the week Vocalists 10

139: The Swingle Singers, ‘On the 4th of July’ (James Taylor)

This week we talk about the United States’ bar mitzvah, how we discovered Bach, the history of The Swingle Singers, the marvels of Scandinavian a cappella festivals, and older people falling in love.

June 26, 2019 by jeff A Cappella Rock Song Of the week Vocalists 12

288: Accent, ‘With a Little Help from My Friends’ (Vocalmente 2018)

I’ve just returned from the Aarhus Vocal Festival, the most moving musical gathering I’ve been at since Woodstock.

June 3, 2019 by jeff A Cappella Song Of the week 8

105: The Boswell Sisters, ‘Crazy People’

The Boswell Sisters had 20 hits in the early 1930s, and are arguably THE best vocal jazz group ever. Their 3-part harmonies are tighter than Aunt Bertha’s girdle, and their arrangements are constantly chock full of unexpected shifts in tempo, major/minor mode, key, and tone, flipping cheekily from dead serious to insouciant comic and back. They have a wicked and sometimes rather racy sense of humor. Their vocals are so hot they were often thought to be black. They scat with the best of them, and do knock-out imitations of instruments and nonsense sounds. A pleasure and an education, 80 years on.

March 20, 2018 by jeff A Cappella Jazz Song Of the week Vocalists 7