Russ Garcia, His Vocal Choir and Orchestra - Sounds In The Night (1957) [2014 Japan]

Russ Garcia, as arranger and orchestra leader, was credited for this 50s album – and it’s thoroughly deserved as, from the very first moment, you’re drawn into an immaculate marriage of harmony vocals, late night jazz and the very best of the US writers of that era. The resultant tracks feature comparatively sparse instrumentation meshing with, and complementing, the wonderful vocal choir that features the best-known back room girl, Marni Nixon, who takes the highest vocal lines.

Nixon was the screen voice for Deborah Carr, Audrey Hepburn and Natalie Wood, but here she’s simply a stunning part of a whole choir that sweeps and soars among quietly radical scores which really only allow subtle saxes to emerge from the background. Any fans of vocal harmony will find things to love here, as it’s rightly known as possibly the best vocal album ever cut. With it we also get the Mother Magoo suite, a shorter seven-track original album which, though interesting in its own right, pales in comparison to the first 12 tracks.