Orlando, Florida's (yes, you saw them at Disney World) favorite all-male Contemporary quartet brings us their fourth, and long-awaited, excellent collection of well-chosen, wonderfully-arranged and performed covers. "Play that Funky Music," "Green Eyed Lady," "Reminiscing" (with some unexpected scat singing), Stevie Wonder's "I Wish," "Pick Up The Pieces," "Fly Away," "Drift Away," the Gershwins' "They Can't Take That Away from Me," Chicago's "Saturday in the Park"... have fairly standard leads, but it's the cool stuff going on behind them that is Return2Zero's forte. Solid vocal percussion of course, but we also hear vocal bass, horns, unexpected tossed-in samples, scat, funny asides, silly noises and doo-woppy side-dishes of harmony all create a rich, tasty vocal stew that spells, well, entertainment. And in terms of pure entertainment, Return2Zero ranks with the best a cappella groups in the world. By the way, I feel the need to throw a few kudos in Walt's direction here-beginning with top-drawer Barbershop groups like the Dapper Dans on Main St., USA and progressing to stellar Doo-Wop groups like the Alley Cats, Contemporary groups like Toxic Audio and Return2Zero, and Choral groups like Derric Johnson's ReGeneration - you've turned a lot of people on to a cappella, bud. Thanks! |
