''Once in a While'' is the fifth studio album by American actor and singer

Seth MacFarlane Seth Woodbury MacFarlane (; born October 26, 1973) is an American actor, animator, filmmaker, comedian, and singer. He is the creator and star of the television series ''Family Guy'' (since 1999) and ''The Orville'' (since 2017), and co-creator ...

, released on April 19, 2019, by

Republic Records Republic Records is a New York City–based American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). It was founded by Avery Lipman and Monte Lipman as an independent label in 1995, and was acquired by UMG in 2000. Republic was initially an ...

and

Verve Records Verve Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). Founded in 1956 by Norman Granz, the label is home to the world's largest jazz catalogue, which includes recordings by artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, ...

. The record was primarily produced by

Joel McNeely Joel McNeely (born March 28, 1959) is an American composer, arranger, musician, lyricist, and record producer. A protégé of composer Jerry Goldsmith, he is best known for his film and television scores. He won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outst ...

and MacFarlane himself, who also serves as the executive producer. The lead single from the album, "Half As Lovely (Twice As True)", was released digitally on April 11, 2019.

Background

On March 8, 2019, MacFarlane revealed on his

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account that he had just finished recording his new album at

Abbey Road Studios Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music c ...

. It was also announced that for the first time, MacFarlane would be working with Andrew Cottee as the composer and arranger instead of

, however he still remained a producer for the album. MacFarlane has a close relationship with the composer, since meeting on the 2016 animated musical film ''

Sing Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

'' and later working together on ''

The Orville ''The Orville'' is an American science fiction comedy-drama television series created by Seth MacFarlane, who also stars as series protagonist Ed Mercer, an officer in the Planetary Union's line of exploratory space vessels in the 25th century ...

''. MacFarlane described the album as a moody style of

Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular entertainers of the 1940s, 1950s, and ...

's signature albums. "I love the ballad album, the rich, melancholy songs," MacFarlane said. "You're taking a theme or a mood or a tone or an emotion and assembling a set list where everything lives in that space, so when you put it on, you're spending the 60 minutes or however long the album is immersed in that one emotion." Cottee also described the album as "not necessarily sad break-up songs. They're more reflective, thoughtful, even philosophical, but they're not all torch songs."

Critical reception

The Straits Times ''The Straits Times'' is an English-language daily broadsheet newspaper based in Singapore and currently owned by SPH Media Trust (previously Singapore Press Holdings). ''The Sunday Times'' is its Sunday edition. The newspaper was established ...

'' gave the album a positive review while also saying that MacFarlane should shake things up to make his music more fresh. ''Jazz Weekly''s George W. Harris praised the album and MacFarlane himself, saying, "but it wouldn't work unless MacFarlane didn't have a strong enough voice to convince, and he does. He sounds convincing, assured and personal."

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from AllMusic. * Jonathan Aasgaard – Cello *John Anderson – Oboe *John Barrett – Assistant Engineer *Chuck Berghofer – Bass *Irving Berlin – Composer *Anna-Liisa Bezrodny – Violin *Adrian Bradbury – Cello *Rich Breen – Engineer, Mixing *Benjamin Buckton – Violin *Sammy Cahn – Composer *Gordon Campbell – Trombone *Rebecca Chambers – Viola *Corinne Chappelle – Violin *Stephano Civetta – Assistant Engineer *Dave Collins – Mastering *Betty Comden – Composer *Andrew Cottee – Arranger, Conductor *Kris Crawford – Assistant Engineer *Tom Croxon – Orchestra Contractor *Hannah Dawson – Violin *Rudi DeGroote – Cello *Shlomy Dobrinsky – Violin *Kira Doherty – French Horn *Pierre Doumenge – Cello *Dream Town Orchestra – Orchestration *Clare Duckworth – Violin *Michael Edwards – Composer *Peter Erskine – Drums *Joy Fehily – Executive Producer *Carl Fischer – Composer *Sammy Gallop – Composer *Ian Gibbs – Violin *Tim Gibbs – Bass *Thomas Goodman – Bass *Mark Graham – Music Preparation *Peter Graham – Violin *Adolph Green – Composer *Bud Green – Composer *Thelma Handy – Violin *Philip Harmer – Oboe *Lorenz Hart – Composer *Andrew Harvey – Violin *Richard Harwood – Cello *Oliver Heath – Violin *Cormac Henry – Flute *Dan Higgins – Clarinet, Sax (Alto) *Jeremy Isaac – Violin *Maya Iwabuchi – Violin *Paul James – Composer *Magnus Johnston – Violin *Cerys Jones – Violin *Francis Kefford – Viola *Liam Kirkman – Trombone *Larry Koonse – Guitars *Nicholas Korth – French Horn *Frankie Laine – Composer *Dunja Lavrova – Violin *Peggy Lee – Composer *Mike Lovatt – Trumpet *James Lynch – Trumpet *Seth MacFarlane – Art Direction, Liner Notes, Primary Artist, Producer, Vocals *Ciaran McCabe – Violin *Joel McNeely – Producer *Johnny Mercer – Composer *John Mills – Violin *Kate Musker – Viola *Alex Neal – Percussion *Benjamin Newton – Viola *Peter North – Trombone *Simon Oliver – Bass *John Parricelli – Guitars *Fiona Paterson – Flute *Julie Pryce – Bassoon *Matthew Quenby – Viola *Tom Ranier – Piano *Edward C. Redding – Composer *Richard Rodgers – Composer *Ruth Rogers – Violin *Ben Rogerson – Cello *Laura Samuel – Violin *Victor Schertzinger – Composer *Bill Sienkiewicz – Illustrations *Kristen Sorace – Design *Lew Spence – Composer *Joe Spix – Art Direction *Jill Streater – Librarian *Jule Styne – Composer *Kay Swift – Composer *Laurence Ungless – Bass *Sam Walton – Percussion *Vicci Wardman – Viola *Hugh Webb – Harp *Natalie Weber – A&R *Claire Webster – Bassoon *Hubie Wheeler – Composer *Michael Whight – Clarinet *Pat White – Trumpet *Alec Wilder – Composer *Steven Wilkie – Violin

Charts

''Once in a While'' debuted at No. 5 on the US ''Billboard'' Top Jazz Albums.

Release history

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2019 albums Albums produced by Joel McNeely Big band albums Covers albums Easy listening albums Jazz albums by American artists Seth MacFarlane albums Republic Records albums Verve Records albums