If you're any kind of dedicated "Family Guy" fan then you know quite well that creator Seth MacFarlane loves himself some theater and some showtunes. The TV series is fairly peppered with references and performances pulled straight from the stage. Knowing all of that, is it any surprise that MacFarlane is wholly embracing that interest for his next project, a big band album?
Deadline reports, via MacFarlane's appearance on Jay Leno, that the plan is to record an album consisting of "swing arrangements of classic tunes." Said MacFarlane, "I had an offer to do an actual big band album and I took it. I said yes. ... We kind of deliberately touched stuff that the Deans and the Franks and the Sammys didn’t do yet [for the album]." The track listing hasn't been revealed yet, but the album will include music from Rodgers and Hammerstein & Lerner and Loewe, as well a reworked version of Joel McNeely's "She's Wonderful Too," which was featured on the "Young Indiana Jones Chronicles" TV series. McNeely will also serve as producer and arranger.
I think this is pretty cool news. Whatever your interest in this sort of music is, MacFarlane stamping his name (and voice) on it guarantees that at least some kids will be exposed to something new, something they might not have otherwise discovered. I'm looking forward to hearing the finished product; are you?
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