... if it ain't got that Swingle...

When Duke Ellington took his Sacred Concerts abroad, the choral parts were taken by groups of singers local to the venue. This, I assume, explains the involvement of Bob Sharples, for example, at the performance in Coventry Cathedral in 1966. 'Uncle Bob' was better known on these islands as the musical director for television personality Hughie Green of Opportunity Knocks fame (click on the linked title to see 'Uncle Bob' introduce the show...)

When Ellington performed parts of The Second Sacred Concert (and click the link here to watch the recording on a Japanese website) on 16 November, 1969 at The Church of St-Sulpice, just days before celebrations in Paris for his 70th birthday, the local vocal group was The Swingle Singers.

The Ecclesiastical, other-worldly sound of The Swingles (as they were later known when Ward Swingle re-founded the group in London in 1974) is suited perfectly to Ellington's Sacred music and, a staple of mainstream variety shows as they were on TV in the UK, perfect as the days of Autumn turn ashen in the run up to Christmas. So, with this in mind, I compiled a complete playlist of the eleven albums the original Parisian edition of The Swingles recorded for the Philips label during the Swingling(?) sixties, the period when they appeared with Ellington. 

If you have access to Spotify, the playlist is here:

In my researching of the group's history, I was delighted to discover a hitherto unpublished recording from this period. The recording may be found on a blog called Dans l'ombre des studios. It is Pavane for a Dead princess' by Ravel, recorded by The Swingles in 1967. The recording may be found here.