''Jazz Sébastien Bach'' (released as ''Bach's Greatest Hits'' in North America) is the debut

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

released by the

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

-based

Swingle Singers The Swingles are an a cappella vocal group. The Swingle Singers were originally formed in 1962 in Paris under the leadership of Ward Swingle. In 1973, Swingle disbanded the French group, and formed an English group known initially as Swingle I ...

. The album was a 1964

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

winner for " Best Performance by a Chorus" and the group also won the 1964 Grammy Award for "

Best New Artist The Grammy Award for Best New Artist has been awarded since the 2nd Annual Grammy Awards in 1960 (except in 1967) "for a new artist who releases, during the Eligibility Year, the first recording which establishes the public identity of that ar ...

". It peaked at No. 16 on the ''Billboard'' Top LPs chart during the week of 21 December 1963. All tracks from the album are included on the CD reissue / compilation '' Jazz Sebastian Bach'' (together with all tracks from 1968's '' Jazz Sébastien Bach Vol. 2'') and on the 11 disk Philips

boxed set A boxed set or (its US name) box set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box, hence 'boxed', and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists ...

''.

Track listing

:''all compositions by J. S. Bach'' Side 1: #"Fugue in D Minor", Contrapunctus 9 from The Art of the Fugue – 2:14 #"Prelude for Organ Chorale No. 1" (Choral-Prelude BWV 645 "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme", from the

Schübler Chorales ' ( 'six chorales of diverse kinds, to be played on an organ with two manuals and pedal'), commonly known as the ''Schübler Chorales'' (), BWV 645–650, is a set of chorale preludes composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. Johann Georg Schü ...

) – 2:38 #"Aria" from Suite No 3 in D – 3:17 #"Prelude No 12 in F Minor" from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II" – 2:12 #"Bourrée II" from The English Suite No 2" – 1:44 #"Fugue No 2 in C Minor" from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I" – 1:16 #"Fugue No 5 in D" from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I – 1:38 Side 2: #"Prelude No 9 in E" from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II – 3:19 #"Sinfonia" from The Partita No 2 – 4:54 #"Prelude No 1 in C" from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II – 1:56 #"Canon" (4-Part Canon BWV 1073) – 1:53 #"Two Part Invention No 1 in C" – 1:22 #"Fugue No 5 in D" from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II – 3:15

Personnel

Vocals: *Jeanette Baucomont – soprano *

Christiane Legrand Christiane Legrand (21 August 1930 – 1 November 2011) was a French soprano singer. Biography Legrand was born in Paris. Her father Raymond Legrand was a conductor and composer renowned for hits such as ''Irma la douce'', and her moth ...

– soprano *Anne Germain – alto *Claudine Meunier – alto *

Ward Swingle Ward Lamar Swingle (September 21, 1927 – January 19, 2015) was an American vocalist and jazz musician who founded The Swingle Singers in France in 1962. Life and career Born in Mobile, Alabama, Swingle studied music, particularly jazz, from a ...

– tenor, arranger *Claude Germain – tenor *

Jean Cussac Jean Cussac (born 31 May 1922) is a French baritone and music director. Biography Born in Paris, Jean Cussac studied lyrical singing at the Conservatoire de Paris, and subsequently turned to jazz and joined The Swingle Singers at their creatio ...

– bass *Jean Claude Briodin – bass Rhythm section: *Pierre Michelot –

double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

*Gus Wallez –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

*Andre Arpino – drums

References / external links

*Philips PHM 200-097 & Philips PHS 600-097 **''Bach's Greatest Hits'' a
discogs.com
and at

allmusic.com AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the data ...

*Philips B 77.921 L & Philips 840.519 BY **''Jazz Sébastien Bach'' a
discogs.com
and a
allmusic.com
{{Authority control The Swingle Singers albums 1963 debut albums Philips Records albums 1960s covers albums Grammy Award for Best Performance by a Chorus Arrangements of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach