August 22, 2008

Bluegrass Student Union - Commencement

1978 International Barbershop Harmony Society Quartet Champs BSU have had a legendary career spanning more than 3 decades, 100 recorded songs and 1000 live performances. "Commencement" is a remarkable gift to their fans and to all fans of Barbershop, combining a dvd that follows the college analogy with a "Digital Video Disc Yearbook" in four Chapters, Freshmen, Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors." These feature clips of some of the group's influences, which they call "hero quartets:" the Suntones, the Citations and many others, with the groups' commentary on what made them want to sing along with and learn from these quartets. A favorite from Chapter 1's 14 clips would be "The Old Songs Medley," from Chapter 2's 6 clips, "Porgy and Bess Overture," from Chapter 3's 20 clips, "Mardi Gras Medley," and from Chapter 4's 9 clips, "The Bluegrass Gospel Medley." Then we come to an audio CD of 8 tunes, a few favorites are "Back in Business," "It's Sand, Man," "I Can't Run Away From You," "Without A Song" and "It's a Wonderful Life." This audio disc is excellent, the frosting, if you will, on the cake that is the dvd. "Freshmen," for instance, has over 41 minutes of wonderful live video clips, "Sophomore" has over 29 minutes, "Junior" over 44 minutes and "Senior" 38 minutes—of wonderful vintage costumes and great music, that shows the evolution of a group known as the "valedictorian" of the Barbershop Harmony Society's "class of 1978." Trust us, there's more incredible history and music here than we can begin to describe to you. If you love Barbershop or vocal harmony in general, just treat yourself to Bluegrass Student Union's lifetime achievement: "Commencement!" 5004 DVD 34.95





Posted by acapnews at August 22, 2008 1:22 PM