NYC-based, unique mixed-voice octet the Accidentals won the 1995 Harmony Sweeps Finals, winning first prize, audience favorite, and best song. "Plush" is dedicated to the group's beloved New York City, but besides Paul Simon's "Still Crazy After All These Years," most of the material is not related to NYC. Rather, it's the jazzy, sophisticated sound, thanks especially to arrangements and music by the group's Margaret Dorn, on these 21 songs that make us think of the Big Apple. Poetry is a very strong theme here: "The Earth and Man" is from a poem by Stopford Brooke, "The Mermaid" and "The Dolphin" are poems by Eleanor Wilner, and "Jazz Fantasia" and "Prayers of Steel" are poems by Carl Sandburg. "Betrothal," "3 Females" and "Lunch in the Rain" are poems by Marcia Pelletiere," and "It Ceased To Hurt Me," "Did You Ever Stand," "The Night Was Wide" and "Our Only Lullaby" are poems by Emily Dickinson. Other favorites are "Hymn," "Watercolor," Christopher Cross' "Sailing" and the accompanied "Many Voices." "Plush" is a complex, stunning, beautifully done piece of work by one of the best vocal ensembles on the planet! |
