Various Arrangers : Girls Love to Mambo

Ready for samba! "The Girl from Ipanema" - The legendary Brazilian composer Antonio Jobim's most famous song in a memorable setting. "Blame It on the Bossa Nova" - You'll capture the sound of an era when you perform this campy hit from 1963 at the zenith of the Bossa Nova craze! Opening with a two part call and response, it moves into a fully harmonized chorus with some clever lyrics that will create smiles all around. "Mas Que Nada" - This classic bossa nova tune will give a smooth Brazilian flavor to your next jazz or show choir concert. Originally recorded by Sergio Mendez & Brazil '66. Includes Portugese and English lyrics. "Mambo Italiano" - Here is an irresistible choral setting of Rosemary Clooney's famous hit from 1955 that will be tons of fun to perform! A delightful concert change of pace! "One Note Samba" - This samba standard absolutely sparkles with cheerful rhythm! Perfect for high school singers and up with plenty of solo opportunities, you'll work your diction skills and dazzle your audience. "Papa Loves Mambo" - Direct from the 1950's comes this delightful little song and recorded by a myriad of artists through the decades. Mark Hayes' arrangement is full of fun and life and will be appealing to all ages. Try some movement adding a little uh to your performance and a little mambo to your stage. Absolutely timeless!

Songlist: The Girl from Ipanema, Blame It on the Bossa Nova, Mas Que Nada, Mambo Italiano, One Note Samba, Papa Loves Mambo

One of the prize Barbershop compilations of all time by the legendary 139th Street Quartet, "Collection" is a winner for lovers of the finest Barbershop Harmony in the history of SPEBSQSA. The quartet was formed in 1975, and got its name from the address of Pete Neushul's factory building in LA, deciding to let the group make the name, instead of the name making the group. Four different lead singers, Jim Meehan (1975-78), Larry Wright (1978-88), John Sherburn (1988-91) and Dan Jordan(1991-present) contribute at least 10 songs to the grand total of 64 songs on this 3-disc set (which are, oddly, numbered 1, 3 and 9). Within 2 years of its founding, the 139th won a silver medal at the SPEBSQSA Internationals in Philadelphia, and regularly did well in competition, for instance scoring bronze medals in 1989, silver in 1990, and bronze again in 1991. Appearing on TV for the first time in 1985 on the first of several episodes of "Cheers," this was quickly followed by an episode of "Night Court." They were also very fortunate to record with the legendary Neil Diamond, who sang lead with the group on a song for each of his Christmas recordings, both of which went multi-platinum, "God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen" on disc 3 is one of these tunes. The group wrote several of its own tunes, including "Best Times I Ever Had," "Now Here You Are Back Again," "My Dear Old Irish Mammy," as well as original words, intros and bridges to many other songs. Anyway, the liner notes are thick with Barbershop history and comments by the guys, and the music is all a cappella except for a couple of tunes like "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do." It's very hard to pick a favorite with so much great material, so we're going to go with the "Theme Song From Cheers." Sit back and enjoy about 3 hours of tunes by one of the great Barbershop quartets of all time!

Songlist: Bowery Medley, Wait 'Til The sun Shines, Nellie, Bach's Fugue (In D Minor), Down By The Old Mill Stream, 1927, Don't Put A Tax On The Beautiful Girls, Jean, I'm Just Wild About Harry, A Girlfriend Of A Boyfriend, Lulu's Back In Town, My Mother's Eyes, My Dear Old Irish Mammy, Good Old Zenith, Blackbird, I Get Around, It's Better To Leave Them Alone, Didn't We, I Got Rhythm, Kid's Song (Coney Island), My Alabama, French Medley, Daddy, You've Been A Mother To Me, We're Shovin' Right Off For Home, Sing An Old Barbershop Song, Jump Into My Mammy's Arms, I've Got The World On A String, Crazy Worlds, Crazy Tune, The Best Times I Ever Had, Money Makes The World Go 'Round, My Romance, and more

The venerable and multi-talented member of The Bobs, Richard Bob Greene, produced and arranged the Vocal Jazz "Duets For Two Voices," which features Angie Doctor, a founding member of the Grammy-nominated PM Singers, but best known to us as a beloved member of Clockwork, which won 2 Grammy nominations, 5 Harmony Sweeps Bay Area Regional championships, and 4 top 3 finishes at the Sweeps Finals. Dan Schumacher sang Baritone with Kickshaw, which won the Pacific NW Harmony Sweeps Regional in 1997 and he has since grown tremendously as a Jazz vocalist. There are 12 songs here, all, to quote the liner notes, "Naked harmony: one man and one woman, with no band, no multi-tracking and no overdubbing-entangled yet liberated, precise yet passionate." Some of our favorites are "Honeysuckle Rose," "One Note Samba," the very funny "Brandenburg Gate," Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust," "Temptation," Greene's own funny, manic "Let's Go Wild," Kern/Hammerstein's "All the Things You Are," and "Milonga del Angel," where Greene makes it a trio, adding his powerful bass to Dan and Angie's leads. These have long been some of our favorite vocalists and composers, and this album is as pure, clear and sweet as we have ever heard Vocal Jazz. Doctor and Schumacher sing and harmonize beautifully, they sass and tease, give and take, and give us a lot to love on "Duets for Two Voices!"

Songlist: Honeysuckle Rose, One Note Samba, Brandenburg Gate, I Know That You Know, Tanguedia Gate, In The Heart of the Dark, Another One Bites the Dust, Temptation, Let's Go Wild, All the Things You Are, Breaking Us In Two, Milonga del Angel

Cluster : Steps   

Five young Italians, three men and two women, students at the Niccolo Paganini Conservatory in Genoa, got together to form Cluster in 2004. They have been touring Europe and Italy ever since, showing off their unique sound, a combination of jazz, pop and fusion. The group does their own arrangements and released their excellent debut album "Cement," which got 3 CARA nominations, in 2006. They recorded 2 EPs in 2008 and 2009 that also received CARA nominations. The 14 tracks on "Steps" show just how far this incredibly talented quintet has come. They nail Trish Delany Brown and Michel Camilo's jazzy "Just Kidding" (which has some light piano), but all other tunes are a cappella, and include some wonderful faux instruments. A particular treat are the group-written originals, including Nicola Nastos' title tune, "Unthought" and "Fake," "Could It Be" by Luca, Eric and Liwen, "Simple Words" by Letizia and Liwen, and "224" by Erik with words by Emily Dickenson. Outstanding covers of Stevie Wonder's "I Wish," Antonio Carlos Jobim's "One Note Samba," Chick Corea and Neville Porter's "Spain," Freddie Mercury's "Love of My Life" and Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" fill out the songlist. There is some stunning electronic augmentation of vocal effects that make us wonder exactly what we're listening to, but the arrangements are so good, and the vocals so amazing, that we can only accept the statement on the back ("This is an a cappella recording, except for Colin Santosa's piano no instruments were used") as Gospel. "Steps" is filled with such a number of marvelous sounds and auditory treats that we intend to come back to it again with a pair of excellent headphones and savor it at our leisure. "Steps" is one of the best of the year!

Songlist: Just Kidding, Steps, Could It Be, One Note Samba, Simple Words, I Wish, Mi Sono Innamorato Di Te, Comecar De Novo (The Island), Fake, 224, Spain, Love Of My Life, Unthought, Hallelujah

Here, in their full glory, are the first two releases the group recorded on Reprise. This is classic stuff as these vocal masters explore two different musical genres with their usual sophistication and expertise. They use the most difficult form of voice pattern. Unlike many vocal groups, which keeps to intervals of thirds fifths and ninths, The Hi-Lo's apply intricate harmonies, moving tones, and suspended chord intervals using about every altered degree of the solmization scale in their arrangements. There are many gems including the practically a cappella "Black Is The Color of My True Love's Hair" featuring a rare solo exquisitely sung by Clark Burroughs and most of the vocal arrangements are by the man himself, Gene Puerling. The majority of these tracks have not been previously released on CD making this a great addition to all of their fans collection. Includes original LP art work and liner notes.

Songlist: Carnaval, The Gift, Let's Go To Brasil, A New Dream, Gold Brazillian Sun, One Note Samba, The Duck ( O Pato ), Cry Your Sadness, Desafinado, Once Again, Love and The Rose, No More Brasil, Sixteen Tons, Turkey In The Straw, Careless Love, Cotton Fields, Black Is The Color of My True Loves Hair, Ezekiel Saw De Wheel, Yellow Rose of Texas, Michael, Gotta Travel On, Cockles and Mussels, On Top Of Old Smokey

High Five : Moondance   

"Moondance" is the debut CD for New York mixed-voice jazz quintet High Five, who are no strangers to the Harmony Sweepstakes, placing second to Vox Bop in 2004's very competitive New York Regional. 13 crisply arranged jazz tunes lend themselves well to High Five's fresh, clean sound, some favorites: "Moondance/Fever Medley," "I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face," "One Note Samba," the upbeat "Let's Get Away From It All," a sweet, doo-woppy "Up on the Roof," "Walking Down the Street," the salsa-flavored "Mais Que Nada," a bluenote "Whistling in the Dark" a finger-snapping "One for My Baby" and a surprising arrangement of "Brahms Lullaby." There is bigtime talent here, from the singers and arrangements to the exquisite design of the liner notes. An impressive debut from High Five, who we will be expecting to see onstage at a Harmony Sweeps Finals before too long!

Songlist: Moondance + Fever Medley, I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face, Scotch + Soda, One Note Samba, My funny valentine, Let's get Away From It All, Up On The Roof, Walking Down the Street, What Can You Loseq, Mais Que Nada, Whitling in the Dark, One for my Baby, Brahms Lullaby

They won it all in 2005 when they were crowned International Barbershop Quartet Champions and are the only quartet in history who took top honors who are not all Americans. Based in Vancouver, Canada the quartet has an international flavor being comprised of 2 Canadians, one American and an Australian. And it's easy to see why they became champs as this fabulous new release is one of the best barbershop recordings we have heard to date. As it becoming more common in barbershop CDs not every track would be considered true barbershop by the purists yet the close harmonies and tight arrangements are most certainly in the barbershop style while other songs are straight ahead traditional gems. A realtime treat!

Songlist: Come On Get Happy, They Can't Take That Away From Me, I'll Follow the Sun, I'm a Believer, Cry Me A River, Come Fly With Me (live in SLC), Waltz for Debby, Ain't That a Kick in the Head, One Note Samba, Midnight Serenade, Come Back to Me, We Never Really Say Goodbye

It was cocktail time in Houston when Martini were crowned the new Queens of Harmony. Corrina Garriock, Michelle Shoemaker, DeAnne Haugen and Shannon Harris took top honors with Touce coming second and AKA third.

Songlist: Yes Sir, That's My Baby, Time After Time, Handful of Keys, You Don't You Won't, Happy Together, Till There Was You, Hit That Jive Jack, What Kind of Fool Am I, Ya Gotta Know How To Love, Desperado, Happy Together, Yesterday I Heard The Rain, Good Luck Charm, Goodbye, World, Goodbye, How Many Hearts Have You Broken?, Seasons of Love, If You Love Me, Really Love Me, Hallelujah, This Could Be The Start Of Something Big, At Last, I Don't Care if The Sun Don't Shine, Taking A Chance On Love, Flirty Eyes, Once Upon a Time, Bohemian Rhapsody, I'll Never Say "Never Again" Again, If I Love Again, Love Will Keep Us Together, I Wish, Open Arms, and more

The smooth sounds of Brazilian jazz great Antonio Carlos Jobim are set here in a sensational Discovery Jazz chart. This song topped the charts in 1963 and will be an excellent selection for young singers to develop a feel for bossa nova style. Available separately: 3-Part Mixed 2-Part VoiceTrax CD. Duration: ca. 2:30.