Chicago A Cappella performed A Cappella Jazz on Saturday, March 29, at the Gannon Concert Hall in the Holtschneider Performance Center on the campus of DePaul University. This concert began a short tour in the Chicagoland area. Paul Langford served as the music director of a program he created with John William Trotter. Ten Chicago A Cappella ensemble members were on hand to sing a program of jazz classics from the 1920s through the early 60s. They had a fine blend of voices and enjoyed singing for the audience.
The ensemble sang beautiful harmonies, hitting high notes and filling in instrument parts vocally. It was an enjoyable evening, but I did not consider it jazz. They did pretty well with the Broadway tunes, but the jazz standards, while sung well, were not up to par as a jazz sound. The first two songs were out of the American songbook canon. Irving Berlin and George Gershwin were popular song composers in the 1920s, known as The Jazz Age in America. Composers listened to Black music and produced a more palatable version for white audiences.
Jazz A Cappella was a sanitized version of excellent music. When the ensemble sang "Every Day I Have the Blues," it could not stand next to Joe Williams, making the word 'nobody' into nine syllables of mellisma. A jazz or blues singer has to have lived that music from the roots to sing it authentically. I am confident that all of the great singers in Chicago A Cappella know the techniques and the music. The women in particular had magnificent pipes. At times, the group went into Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross (LHR) territory, but not on "Every Day I Have the Blues."
John Coltrane's "Giant Steps" vocal arrangement came close to having that LHR sound with shades of Manhattan Transfer. I also enjoyed their take on "Birdland" by Joe Zawinul from Weather Report. I wish the bass/baritones hit those famous opening notes more forcefully. There was a lovely composition from bassist Devon Gates called "Meditations on 1 Corinthians 13." Before you pick up your handy Bible, it's the verse at countless weddings about love being patient, kind, etc. It wasn't so heavy on the jazz vibe, but that could be attributed more to the performance than the composition.
One of the disconnects for me from this jazz music program was a statement from one of the tenors. He said that jazz came from European classical music with the African American influence added. That statement is not true. Jazz is uniquely American music that emerged from enslaved Black people. Gospel music chords were the roots that led to blues and jazz. European influence was put into jazz to make it more palatable and "safe" for white audiences.
Musicians like Benny Goodman, Louis Prima, Peggy Lee, and Frank Sinatra integrated the genre. These artists lived in the music world and respected the talent of composers and band leaders like Count Basie, Duke Ellington, and Quincy Jones. The program was a tip of the hat to the great composers, and there are suggestions in the program of what version to listen to compare as inspiration for the ensemble.
I liked Jazz A Cappella more as a cabaret show than a jazz program. I want to hear some of their classical and popular songs in concert. It's a good initial foray worth checking out, as three more concerts are coming up. You can find more information about Chicago A Cappella at https://www.chicagoacappella.org/
The roster for Jazz A Cappella is (alphabetical order) Matthew Brennan (baritone), Carolyne DaiMonte (soprano), Rebecca Fitzpatrick (soprano), Michael Hudetz (tenor), Joe Labozetta (tenor), Kristin Leim (soprano), Theresa Lutima (mezzo-soprano), Chelsea Lyons (mezzo-soprano), and Alan Taylor (tenor).